Syrian refugee camp in Jordan gets full-size soccer pitch

AZ ZA’ATRI, Jordan – The head of European soccer’s governing body and Jordan’s Prince Ali have inaugurated a full-size soccer pitch in Jordan’s largest camp for Syrian refugees.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin kicked a ball around with Syrian children who joyfully ran onto the facility’s artificial grass after Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting.

Organizers say the pitch is meant to give a sense of normalcy to 80,000 residents of Zaatari, which was set up in 2012, a year after the start of the Syria crisis.

Former French national team player Christian Karembeu said after the ceremony that “with sports we can at least try to eradicate some trauma” of Syria’s civil war.

UEFA’s Foundation for Children and Jordan’s Asian Football Development Project contributed funding. Organizers did not say how much the pitch cost.