Kiyan Prince, stabbed victim, lives in FIFA 21 UK News

A promising young footballer who died 15 years ago in a stabbing has been “ brought back to life ” thanks to FIFA 21.

Kiyan Prince, was stabbed to death at the age of 15 while trying to break up a fight on May 18, 2006, outside London Academy in Edgware.

To honor the young footballer and raise awareness about knife crime, he has been virtualized and added to the FIFA 21 video game roster.

QPR director of football Les Ferdinand hopes the addition of Prince as a new player on FIFA 21 will encourage more young people to put down their knives.

The EA Sports developers worked closely with those who knew it best to refine its characteristics in the field.

QPR also officially re-signed him – “the most important signing QPR will ever make” according to Mr Ferdinand – and gave him the team’s number 30.

QPR works closely with the Kiyan Prince Foundation, which is headed by Kiyan’s father, Dr Mark Prince OBE, and in 2019 renamed its stadium in honor of the charity.

Ferdinand hopes this new initiative will raise awareness and reach even more people.

👑 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞.

The 1️⃣5️⃣th anniversary of his death.

𝗞𝗶𝘆𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 comes back to life as the professional footballer he should have been 💙@easportsfifa 𝘅 @thekpf#QPR | #LongLiveThePrince pic.twitter.com/csbZBvhvhQ

– QPR FC (@QPR) May 18, 2021

“Lots of young players are playing FIFA, and they will see that and think not only of him losing their lives, but of his family, of the part of their life that was lost,” said the former England striker Ferdinand.

“The guy who committed the murder went to jail, so his family’s life was lost. Leaving your home with a knife is an intention, whether our intention is to protect you or to take someone else’s life.

“We have to get this out of people’s minds. I hope that’s something that might prick someone’s conscience and think, ‘Well, you know what, let’s put that knife down.’

Police-recorded offenses involving a knife or sharp instrument in England and Wales reached a record high of 46,265 for the year through March 2020.

Of the 683 homicides recorded in England and Wales during this period, 39% involved a knife or sharp instrument, with the number of such homicides in London rising from 67 to 86.

Ferdinand said: “I went to school around the corner from this Shepherd’s Bush football club, I lived in Ladbroke Grove.

“If I think back to my departure from Ladbroke Grove and coming to Shepherd’s Bush, what’s going on in this country right now is you go from one zip code to another and you can lose your life. because of this. I just can’t figure it out.

“Anything we can do to change people’s minds, we have to do.”

His father, Dr Prince, also hopes the impact of this decision will be profound.

He added, “People who play are going to want to find out how a dead young black boy can make it into a game?

“There have been others like him, but he stands out for all the right reasons. You should find out why he was successful, and it has nothing to do with Bugattis, cars and money, it all depends on his character.

Dr Prince thinks the world would be a better place if more people looked like his son.

“Kiyan was the kind of son you talk about and say, ‘I wish my boy was more like that,’” he said.

“(He was) very insightful, very caring to others, very caring, even down to the way he was with animals.

“A lot of young people think ‘if I do something threatening, if I do something hard, if I do something hard and dominate you, I will be respected.’

“Kiyan has shown that it is different from that – if you show that you are gentle and kind, you will have a lot more respect.

“Kiyan did not know that he was building his legacy on a daily basis during his short 15 years, in his relationships with his teachers, with his peers, his parents and his siblings.

Asked what Kiyan would have thought of appearing on FIFA, Dr Prince added: “He and I regularly faced off on FIFA at times we really shouldn’t have been up before, an hour or two in the morning. morning. He would have been so gassed to know he’s a player in the game. ”

Members of the public who wish to support the campaign can donate to the Kiyan Prince Foundation by texting KPF (then the amount) to 70490. All brands involved in the campaign including EA, Adidas and Topps Cards are making a donation. donation of money to the Kiyan Prince Foundation for the likeness license.