During her time with Aston Villa, Elizabeta Ejupi shared her personal journey from refuge to professional leagues in England, and the role that football played in her life.
Elizabeta’s family fled Kosovo, her birth country, during the height of the conflict to seek safety in England. Arriving as a young child, football was the primary way she integrated into her new community.
“Football has really helped me since I moved to the country. I was always playing outside. It helped me make friends, integrate into the community and build confidence, because it was hard learning a new language, learning a new culture, whereas football’s just the same wherever you go. No one really cared where you were from. They just wanted you to pass them the ball.”
This highlights football’s universal language and unique power to break barriers, embrace diversity, and integrate people based on a shared passion. Beyond social connection, the sport provided psychological release, for when she was playing, she could focus entirely on the game and escape the difficulties of her situation.
Elizabeta now uses her platform to give back. By participating in her club’s support campaign for Football Welcomes, she aims to show other young people facing similar struggles that a support system exists for them. Her story is featured in the Amnesty International guidebook, “Activities for 7-14 Year Olds to Raise Awareness of Refugees and Migration,” providing a tangible example of the lived refugee experience for the next generation.
For us, her story is a real-life example of football as a tool for peacebuilding at both the individual and relational levels. The world of sport provides at-risk youth with a safe space to connect, learn, grow, and dream. When Elizabeta explains that this encouraging and friendly environment made her feel she “became someone” through the sport, we see how football opens a space for imagination.
As Elise Boulding describes, imagination is an essential tool for peacebuilding; a “cognitive rehearsal for reality.” For youth to picture new possibilities, they must first feel they have the agency to do so; visioning allows them to decide on their own future. In line with fostering this curiosity, children need the safety to dream, knowing they won't be judged for “unrealistic” ideas. Elizabeta’s journey proves that “what exists is possible” and that the very best world we can imagine for ourselves (and others) is within our reach.
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