Homeless World Cup
Encyclopedia
The Cause
There are one billion homeless people in our world today. This is a global issue that affects every nation.Homelessness can force people into isolation, which affects their ability to share, communicate their thoughts and work with others. Day-to-day survival needs take priority over longer term planning - often resulting in a chaotic lifestyle.
When a homeless person gets involved in football they communicate and build relationships with others; they become teammates, learning to trust and share; they have a responsibility to attend training sessions and games, to be on time and prepared to participate. They feel part of something.
These skills and attributes are all transferable to daily life and therefore help a homeless person see that they can change their lives.
The Homeless World Cup
The Homeless World Cup is a unique, pioneering social organisation which exists to end homelessness.• It uses football to energise homeless people to change their own lives while developing innovative, effective solutions to homelessness worldwide.
• It operates through a network of 70+ national partners to support football programs and social enterprise development.
• It celebrates its year-round work running an annual, international football tournament that unites teams of homeless people from countries around the globe.
The tenth edition of the Homeless World Cup annual football tournament will take place in Mexico City in October 2012.
Partners & supporters include NIKE
Nike
Nike may refer to:* Nike , Greek goddess who personifies victory**The Nike of Samothrace, an ancient statue of the goddess Nike* Nike, Inc., major U.S. manufacturer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment...
, Fundación Telmex
Telmex
Telmex is a telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunication products and services in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and other countries in Latin America. In addition to traditional fixed-line telephone service, Telmex also offers Internet access, data,...
and UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
.
History
It was at the end of the 2001 International Network of Street PapersInternational Network of Street Papers
The International Network of Street Papers is an organization of street papers that provide employment opportunities, community, and a voice to homeless and other economically vulnerable people. It spans 94 papers from 36 countries, in total selling about 32 million copies each year. INSP was...
Conference in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
that Mel Young, co-founder of The Big Issue
The Big Issue
The Big Issue is a street newspaper published in eight countries; it is written by professional journalists and sold by homeless individuals. It was founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991...
Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and Harald Schmied, editor of Megaphon, a street paper in Austria, came up with the idea for the Homeless World Cup.
Whilst searching for an international language to unite homeless people around the world, they realised one existed: they decided to use football to change homeless people's lives forever.
In 2003 it was born the first annual football tournament for homeless people in Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. It was such a success, with a profound and visible impact on the people involved never seen before. After this, they decided to do more.
Since then, the flagship event has grown in terms of scale, impact and geographical reach. Host cities to date include Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
will host the 2012 edition.
Along with the growth of its annual event, the Homeless World Cup is establishing itself as a global leading social enterprise with unprecedented impact. Research consistently indicates over 70% of players engaged changed their lives by beating addictions, moving into jobs, homes, training, education and repairing relationships; become social entrepreneurs, coaches and players.
Moreover, with the support of its Global Changer Makers, which include UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
, Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
and Fundación Telmex
Telmex
Telmex is a telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunication products and services in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and other countries in Latin America. In addition to traditional fixed-line telephone service, Telmex also offers Internet access, data,...
, the Homeless World Cup has touched the lives of over 200,000 homeless people since inception and created three legacy enterprises, operating in the sports equipment and recycling sectors.
The Founder
Mel Young, 57, is recognised as one of the world's leading social entrepreneurs by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.Alongside with Austrian born Harald Schmied, they attempted to invent an international language to enable homeless people to communicate with each other around the world so the Homeless World Cup was born in 2001.
In 1993 Mel co-founded The Big Issue
The Big Issue
The Big Issue is a street newspaper published in eight countries; it is written by professional journalists and sold by homeless individuals. It was founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, a weekly magazine sold by homeless people in the streets of Scotland now with a circulation of 40,000. With the success of The Big Issue in Scotland, he co-founded the International Network of Street Papers
International Network of Street Papers
The International Network of Street Papers is an organization of street papers that provide employment opportunities, community, and a voice to homeless and other economically vulnerable people. It spans 94 papers from 36 countries, in total selling about 32 million copies each year. INSP was...
, a global network of over eighty street papers sold in every continent, of which he is Honorary President.
The combined annual circulation of these papers is over 30 million helping 100,000 homeless or long-term unemployed people throughout the world every year.
In June 2002, recognising the potential of Fairtrade as a successful tool to alleviate poverty, Mel founded New Consumer Magazine, the UK’s leading ethical lifestyle magazine, enabling consumers to use their purchasing power to change the world.
Mel is the author of GOAL: The story of the Homeless World Cup. He has received honorary degrees from Queen Margaret's University; Herriott Watt University, Edinburgh and Glasgow Caledonian University. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland and is a lifelong supporter of Hibernian FC.
National Partners
The Homeless World Cup operates through a network of 70+ National Partners around the world, supporting football programes and social enterprise development.The Homeless World Cup National Partners provide, or provide access to, the professional services needed - educational, employment, health or legal advice. National Partners also run tournaments and trials to select the 8 players who make the journey to the Homeless World Cup annual tournament each year - and support them in making the most of this experience on their return afterwards: moving on in their lives and becoming the models and ambassadors for other homeless people in their countries.
List of Homeless World Cup National Partners:
Afghanistan - Argentina - Australia - Austria - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Brazil - Bulgaria - Cambodia - Cameroon - Canada - Chile - Colombia - Costa Rica - Croatia - Czech Republic - Denmark - England - Finland - France - Germany - Ghana - Greece - Haiti - Hong Kong - Hungary - India - Indonesia - Ireland - Italy - Ivory Coast - Japan - Kazakhstan - Kenya - Kyrgyzstan - Liberia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malawi - Mexico - Moldova - Namibia - Netherlands - New Zealand - Nigeria - Norway - Palestine - Paraguay - Philippines - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - Rwanda - Scotland - Serbia - Singapore - Slovakia - Slovenia - South Africa - South Korea - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Timor-Leste - Uganda - Ukraine - USA - Wales - Zambia - Zimbabwe
Annual Tournament
The Homeless World Cup runs an annual international football tournament to celebrate the work of its network of National Partners and to unite in ending homelessness.The event is the pinnacle of all that goes on during each year as the Homeless World Cup National Partners come together to celebrate their work and place homeless people at the very centre of the solution.
Each annual tournament is held in the centre of a major international city and we use the event to show the public, politicians and people in general a very different view of homeless people.
The Homeless World Cup demonstrate very clearly the impact that has been made through using football as a tool out of homelessness: 70% of spectators changes their views on homeless people and homelessness.
The annual Homeless World Cup tournament enters its 10th anniversary in 2012 when it will be hosted by Mexico City.
Past & Future tournaments
- GrazGrazThe more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
2003 Homeless World Cup, Austria - GothenburgGothenburgGothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
2004 Homeless World Cup, Sweden - EdinburghEdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
2005 Homeless World Cup, Scotland - Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
2006 Homeless World Cup, South Africa - CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
2007 Homeless World Cup, Denmark - MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
2008 Homeless World Cup, Australia - MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
2009 Homeless World Cup, Italy - Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
2010 Homeless World Cup, Brazil - ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
2011 Homeless World Cup, France - Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
2012 Homeless World Cup, Mexico
Rules
Who can play? Pitch size, Team size, Blue Cards, Penalty Kicks, Fair Play... Find everything about the street soccer rules at the Homeless World Cup.Player eligibility
Players must:- Be male or female and at least 16 years old at the time of the tournament
- Have not taken part in previous Homeless World Cup tournaments
- Have been homeless at some point after the previous year's tournament in accordance with the national definition of homelessness
- Make their main living income as a streetpaper vendor
- Be asylum seekers currently without positive asylum status or who were previously asylum seekers but obtained residency status a year before the event
- Currently in drug or alcohol rehabilitation and also have been homeless at some point in the past two years
Participants
A maximum of 4 players per team on the court:- 3 outfield players,
- 1 goalkeeper,
- Plus 4 substitution players (rolling substitution allowed)
Tournament details
- The winning team gets 3 points. The losing team zero. If a match ends in a draw, it is decided by sudden-death penalty shootout and the winning team gets three points and the losing team gets one point.
- Games are 14 minutes long, in two seven-minute halves.
- The field is 22m (long) x 16m (wide).
Rankings
The rankings are compiled following each annual Homeless World Cup tournament to commemorate the event and to commend the thousands of players who have taken part since the inaugural competition took place in 2003.| Nation | +/- | Tournaments | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | +1 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Mexico | +4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Scotland | +6 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 12 |
| Ukraine | -1 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 1 |
| Chile | +5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| Russia | -1 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 15 |
| Ireland | = | 9 | 11 | 6 | 5 |
| Portugal | -7 | 8 | 14 | 4 | 2 |
| Poland | -5 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 8 |
| Kenya | +4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | = |
See the the complete table.
Media
The Homeless World Cup has established a global brand identity and told the story through all media. The outcomes and return on the investment has been significant and inspired change across the world.Communications and PR offer a powerful opportunity to raise awareness and change hearts and minds globally to end homelessness. The Homeless World Cup works to engage and mobilise the audiences to take action and to change attitudes of governments, public, key influencers toward creating better solutions to homelessness around the world.
The Homeless World Cup attract significant media attention at national level highlighting grass roots work and internationally before during and after the annual tournament.
Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup figures
In Paris 450 journalists attended the event generating great positive coverage. Locally on AFP, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Canal+, TF1, France 3 talked about the event; Internationally, it appears in The New York Times and Associated Press (US), La Gazzeta dello Sport (IT), Australia News (AUS), China Post (China), Mundo Deportivo and Marca (SP), BBC, Reuters and the Independent (UK)...Supporting Media Partners at the event were CNN and Eurosport, both providing support and coverage. CNN International lent extensive global airtime to the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup 60 second promo granting over $3 million worth of exposure.
The website www.homelessworldcup.org recorded the best tournament viewing figures since 2008 with 15,200 daily visits on the third day of the tournament (23rd August 2011).
Through the Homeless World Cup Social Medial Channels: Facebook recorded a 28% increase in fans during the tournament week as the number of Twitter followers increased by 23%, an increase of 794.
The Paris tournament saw the introduction of Web TV. All 392 matches played at the tournament were filmed and made free-to-view on the Homeless World Cup website. From 21st August to 12th September, more than 63,000 people watched games online, 24,000 of them unique
visitors.
Documentaries
Several TV documentaries have been made tracking the participation of teams from homelessness, joining our football programme and on to participating at the annual event.Hors-Jeu: Carton rouge contre l’exclusion. Canal+ broadcasted this 90 minute documentary based on the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup and the year-round work of the Homeless World Cup and five National Partners: Japan, Argentina, Palestine, France and Kenya. It was aired in France on the 9th of October 2011. Directed by Jérôme Mignard and Thomas Risch.
Kicking It. The 2006 Homeless World Cup was the subject of a documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
entitled Kicking It
Kicking It (film)
Kicking It is a 2008 documentary directed by Susan Koch and Jeff Werner focusing on the experiences of seven homeless people at the Homeless World Cup football game. Featured in the documentary, narrated by actor Colin Farrell were residents of Afghanistan; Kenya; Dublin, Ireland; Charlotte, North...
. directed by Susan Koch and Jeff Werner focusing on the experiences of seven homeless people
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
at the Homeless World Cup football (soccer) game. Featured in the documentary, narrated by actor Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
were residents of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
; Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
; Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
; Charlotte
CHARLOTTE
- CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
; Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and St. Petersburg in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The film premiered in January, 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and is being distributed by Liberation Entertainment, Netflix
Netflix
Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
and ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
.
Celebrities and Supporters
Desmond TutuDesmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
, speaking at Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
2006: "All over the world, I want to say, we've got to end homelessness. Everybody should have a home. It's a right, not a privilege. People treat the homeless as if they're sub-human. In order to overcome this discrimination, we have to unite against homelessness as we did when we fought apartheid."
Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona
Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in...
, Ambassador, Homeless World Cup: "Everybody needs to wake up in the morning with a goal. That is the main thing. The Homeless World Cup brings this opportunity, to go training, to change your life."
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
, Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
World Champion 2008: "Meeting the players has been a great experience and it's inspiring to see how the power of sport can change people's lives."
Michel Platini
Michel Platini
Michel François Platini is a former French football player, manager and current president of UEFA. Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was the top goalscorer and voted the best player. He participated in the 1978, 1982...
, President, UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
: "UEFA have partnered the Homeless World Cup since its first annual tournament in 2003. We share its vision of helping homeless people through football. UEFA not only cares about football, UEFA cares about ending homelessness."
Hannah Jones, VP, Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
for sustainable business and innovation: "Nike believe in the power of sport to change people's lives. The Homeless World Cup delivers this and that is why we have benn partners with them since 2003.