Twelve-year-boy Girish Maskey is set to represent Nepal for the first time at the International Teams of Friendship taking place in Moscow from June 8-15. 

The sixth edition of the event in being organised by Gazprom—the official partner of 2018 Fifa World Cup—under the Football for Friendship (F4F) International Children’s Social Project. “The goal of the programme is to involve the young generation throughout the world in promoting the most important human values among their peers—friendship, equality, peace and respect for different cultures and nationalities,” said Gazprom in a statement. Maskey has been drawn to play for African Elephant as a forward.  A total of 32 international teams, each comprising six players, are participating in the event. The teams will also compete at the Football For Friendship World Championship on June 12. As an ecological initiative of Football for Friendship, all the International Teams of Friendship have been named after endangered animals. “During the International Friendship Camp, young players under the guidance of young coaches and supervision of famous players will be learning of F4F key values,” Gazprom said in a statement. 

Deputy General Secretary of Anfa Sanjib Mishra confirmed that they had picked Maskey for the programme following his impressive showing during the regular weekend training session at the Anfa in Satdobato.