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By Anthony Nlebem.
Nigeria and 50 other countries will compete in this year’s Homeless World Cup tournament, a street soccer event, scheduled to hold from July 8 to 15 in Sacramento, United States.
The 18th edition of the annual tournament will be delivered by the Homeless World Cup Foundation in coordination with California State University, Sacramento and the Homeless World Cup’s US partner – Street Soccer USA.
The event will kick off with a welcome address July 7, while the opening parade and games start July 8.
In a letter to Team Nigeria Director, Yomi Kuku, Zoë Hopkins, International Partnerships Manager, Homeless World Cup Foundation, expressed delight at welcoming Nigeria to Sacramento, California.
He further expressed gratitude for the important and life-changing work “that you (Kuku) are doing in your country to end homelessness and social exclusion.”
Since making their first appearance at the 2006 edition in Cape Town, South Africa, Nigeria has reached three quarter-finals, and in the 2009 edition in Milan, crashed out in the semi-finals, where they lost to eventual winners Ukraine, but went on to win the UEFA Fair Play Trophy Award.
The Homeless World Cup was co-founded by Mel Young and Harald Schmied in 2001 to advocate for a global solution to homelessness.
The 2020 tournament had been due to take place in Tampere, Finland but was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mel Young, Homeless World Cup president, noted that football could affect lives positively and expressed his commitment to ending homelessness.
“Since 2003 we have proved that the power of football can change lives and through our annual tournament and our partnerships across the world, we are committed to tackling and ending homelessness.
“Everyone at the Homeless World Cup, our global Member Countries and our loyal supporters have deeply missed our annual tournament, so we are delighted, excited and encouraged to be in a position to announce alongside our partner Street Soccer USA that the state capital of California, Sacramento and California State University, Sacramento will be hosting the Homeless World Cup in 2023.”