Civil Society, Europe, Global, Global Geopolitics, Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean

RIGHTS: Before the Olympics in Brazil…

Danielle Batist

SWANSEA, U.K., Oct 29 2009 (IPS) - Athletes competing for Olympic gold speak to the imagination of most of us. Homeless people playing an international football tournament may be a less familiar sight. Brazilians in Rio de Janeiro will get a chance to see both.

Not only will the city host the Olympics in 2016, it will stage the Homeless World Cup football in September next year.

It was over a beer in sunny Cape Town that Scot Mel Young and Austrian Harald Schmied came up with the idea of the Homeless World Cup. Both from a background in street papers, they wanted to create an international language to enable homeless people to communicate with one another around the world. They quickly found that one already existed: football.

But of course, street football. Each team has four players out on the court who can be all male, all female or mixed. There are also four substitute players per team, who can be changed for a player on the court through the game. Games last 14 minutes and are fast and fun to watch. Teams play two matches day throughout the week-long competition.

And so, the first Homeless World Cup was held in Austria in 2003 with 18 nations competing for the trophy. Social entrepreneur Mel Young has since grown the tournament to bring 56 nations together at the Homeless World Cup in Melbourne in 2008, including a separate Women's Cup.

An annual, international football tournament, the Homeless World Cup brings together teams of people who are homeless and socially excluded to take a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country in an international sports event.

Teams are selected through street newspapers and local street football projects. Sponsorship comes from local organisations and companies, with flights, accommodation and gear paid for with support from Nike and the Vodafone Foundation. Some 500 players participate in the now annual tournament each year, attracting on average 50,000 spectators to cheer them on.

Supporters of the Homeless cup include UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), the UN, the football clubs Manchester United and Real Madrid, Manchester United legend and Homeless World Cup Ambassador Eric Cantona, and international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.

The tournament's goal – to 'kick off poverty' – has had effect on the ground already. It has triggered grassroots football projects in more than 70 nations, benefiting more than 100,000 players.

Brazil will be the first South American country to host the Olympics, and also the first to stage a Homeless World Cup. The annual football tournament for the homeless and socially excluded, next year in its eighth year, has so far taken place in Graz, Austria (2003), Gothenburg, Sweden (2004), Edinburgh, Scotland (2005), Cape Town, South Africa (2006), Copenhagen, Denmark (2007), Melbourne, Australia (2008) and Milan, Italy (2009). In September next year, Copacabana beach in Rio will be the official venue for the games with teams from all five continents.

Mel Young, who is president of the Homeless World Cup, believes Rio is "the perfect location" to host the tournament next year. "Brazil is the home of football with many of its star players rising from the streets of Brazil to the global football stage. With the infrastructure created to host the world's greatest sporting events and government and businesses committed to using football for real, lasting social change, we are impressed by the impact the Homeless World Cup will generate for Rio, Brazil and the rest of the world."

Rio recently hosted the Pan American Games (a multi-sports event held every year in the year before the summer Olympic Games), Parapan American Rio 2007 (a similar event for athletes with disabilities) and the FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2008 (indoor football). It will also be one of the venues of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

However, the Homeless World Cup will provide its own unique trial run for the city in the build-up to the 2016 Olympics. Julio Filgueira, national secretary of Brazil's Ministry of Sports, says the tournament has the potential to show the social impact sport can have on people.

"The Homeless World Cup will be a great opportunity to touch the society about important aspects related to people living under vulnerability and social exclusion, besides demonstrating how sports can be a powerful tool in the process of formation and social inclusion," he told the Cup's organisers upon winning the bid to host the tournament.

Many of the volunteers involved in the Homeless World Cup come back year after year. Australian referee Hary Milas first got involved during the 2008 tournament in his home country. He made the long journey to Milan this year, and is already looking forward to his third Homeless World Cup in Rio.

He thinks that the spirit of the tournament that "a ball can change the world" will certainly be well received in the Brazilian city. He told IPS: "A city that has over 20 million people that are just soccer mad – how can the message not be heard? They play football almost around the clock in Rio, and restaurants and pubs even close as the waiters and chefs all gather and play a game of football.

"On Copacabana beach hundreds of people play 'futevolei' – footvolley which is beach volleyball where you use your feet, chest and head. So, staging three massive arenas with thousands of seats on the same beach is brilliant. Just try and imagine the electric atmosphere day and night that football loving Brazilians are going to bring to this event.

"I know of many Australians who were so touched by the message that Mel Young brought to the world. The sheer enjoyment they received from volunteering in Melbourne, and many of them funding their own way to Milan 2009, these people were so touched by the experience they are already saving up to go to Rio."

With 100 million people homeless around the world, the potential impact of tournaments like the Homeless World Cup is huge. Annual research conducted by the Homeless World Cup Foundation shows that participation in the tournament changes the lives of three-quarters of players for the better. They move into houses and jobs or education, tackle alcohol or drugs addictions, and restore family bounds.

Former player from the Welsh Team Terry Fitzpatrick told IPS: "We have all experienced poor living conditions and difficulties in life. Being selected for the team has given me back my self-belief. I believe I can achieve things now. And it has made all of us much fitter and more disciplined."

Bill Shaw, executive director of the Philippines street magazine the Jeepney, has been involved in the street soccer project in his country, and supported the Philippine team in Milan this year. He says he is convinced Rio will be an extraordinary experience for next year's players: "Brazil has a romance with football. For the Philippine Homeless players who experience that romance, it will change their lives."

Apart from a chance to play for their country, Shaw believes getting to know people from around the world is important too. "Last year our team met some beautiful girls in Milan. I gave our captain a hard time about girlfriends and he looked at me sincerely and said: 'They are just friends. We are here to make friends.' Our hope is Copacabana beach will be a beach of friends for the homeless players from around the world."

Coach of the Scottish Homeless World Cup team David Duke is convinced next year's location will be the best yet. He told IPS: "I think Rio is great because Brazil for me is the home of football. I think you would be hard pushed to find a better venue. The backdrop of Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer and the vastly populated Copacabana Beach will ensure an amazing experience for the players. I think it will be the best World Cup so far!"

Iain McGill has been involved in the Homeless World Cup since he first saw the action in his home town Edinburgh, Scotland. He was asked to join the professional referee team in Cape Town in 2006, and has been to every tournament since.

He told IPS he is excited about Rio: "It is going to be the biggest, boldest event yet, and what better place to host it than in the home of football? Brazil is known for supporting their teams in a noisy boisterous fashion – that won't change. When they see this tournament and what it stands for it is going to busy and noisy in the stands for sure.

"The crowds will be right behind the teams as they try to win the trophy, but the really great stuff goes on off the pitch. In the end it is all about the work being done with homeless folks from around – to work alongside them and help them turn their lives around."