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FOOTBALL NEWS AND VIDEO - With two wins from two games, South Africa are currently first in stage two of the Men’s Group D at the Homeless World Cup in Oslo, Norway.
According to Homeless World Cup on Facebook, this is the 20th edition of the tournament that is played to bring change.
“Our mission is to use football to support and inspire people who are homeless to change their own lives; and to change perceptions and attitudes towards people who are experiencing homelessness,” states their website.
During stage one of the tournament, which was played from Saturday until Monday, South Africa won three of their four matches. They lost only to Brazil 6-3.
Stage two of the tournament kicked off yesterday, with the South Africans beating Bulgaria 7-4 and Finland 11-3.
Today, at 14:00 SA time, South Africa face fourth-placed Bosnia & Herzegovina, hoping to remain unbeaten in this stage of the tournament.
Rules
According to an explainer video on the tournament’s Facebook page, the matches are four-a-side, with three outfield players and one goalkeeper. Each team has a squad of eight players, and rolling substitutions are allowed throughout a match. One attacking player has to be in their opponent’s half to create a three-on-two with attack versus defence.
The matches last 14 minutes, and there are no draws: Tied games go to sudden-death penalties. Because fair play is central to the tournament, everyone plays until the last day.
Participants must be at least 16, first-time players, and meet one of these criteria:
- Experienced homelessness in the past year,
- Earn mainly as a street paper vendor,
- Be an asylum seeker (current or former), or
- Be in addiction rehabilitation with recent homelessness.
According to the tournament’s Instagram account, South Africa were awarded the FIFPRO Fair Play Award yesterday. The post reads: “After a tough 6-3 loss to Brazil, the team broke into dance – inviting their opponents to join them. The crowd loved it, and so did the key decision-makers for the FIFPRO Fair Play Award.”
VIDEO: Today at the Homeless World Cup I Day 4
Homelessness in South Africa
According to the tournament’s website, the Homeless World Cup took place in Cape Town in 2009. “More than four million people, or over one million households, live in informal settlements built on public land in South Africa. Cape Town is home to one of the largest slums in the world – some one million people live in the township Khayelitsha, approximately 30km outside the city, which is continuously growing,” its website states.
Those statistics back up the ongoing challenges the country faces, particularly in the areas of inequality and poverty. According to the A Profile of Homeless Persons in South Africa, 2022 report released by Statistics South Africa, the official count of homeless individuals quadrupled between 1996 and 2022.
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