Event
So … a football tournament for homeless people? Sounds a bit odd, but it’s true.
The Homeless World Cup has been running since 2003 when the first event for 18 nations was held in Graz. Now in it’s 8th year the event will be held for 64 nations and a street soccer stadium will be built on Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, to host the event. More than 500 homeless participants will play in the tournament between 19-26th September and it is expected that over 70% of these will develop new futures for themselves after the event.
The Homeless World Cup is a registered charity (SC293141), based in Scotland. They use football at global and local levels as a trigger to inspire and energise people who are homeless, to change their own lives wherever they are across the globe. They have a terrific aim to be the most reputable organisation to use sports as a means for social inclusion, involving one million players, by 2012.
The Homeless World Cup is supported by a number of high-profile organisations and people including UEFA, Nike, Man Utd, Real Madrid, Rio Ferdinand and Didier Drogba with Eric Cantona as Ambassador.