Nigeria, along with 50 other countries, will participate in this year’s Homeless World Cup tournament, a street soccer event scheduled to take place from July 8 to 15 in Sacramento, United States. This marks the 18th edition of the annual tournament, organized by the Homeless World Cup Foundation in collaboration with California State University, Sacramento, and its U.S. partner, Street Soccer USA. The event will commence with a welcome address on July 7, followed by an opening parade and the first games on July 8.
In a letter to Team Nigeria Director Yomi Kuku, Zoë Hopkins, the International Partnerships Manager at the Homeless World Cup Foundation, expressed her excitement about welcoming Nigeria to Sacramento. She also conveyed her gratitude for the significant and transformative work that Kuku is doing in Nigeria to combat homelessness and social exclusion. Since Nigeria’s debut at the tournament in 2006 in Cape Town, South Africa, the team has reached the quarter-finals three times. Notably, in the 2009 edition held in Milan, Nigeria advanced to the semi-finals but was eliminated by the eventual champions, Ukraine. Despite this setback, Nigeria earned the UEFA Fair Play Trophy Award that year.
The Homeless World Cup was co-founded in 2001 by Mel Young and Harald Schmied to advocate for a global solution to homelessness. The 2020 tournament was scheduled to occur in Tampere, Finland, but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mel Young, the president of the Homeless World Cup, emphasized the positive impact football can have on people’s lives and reiterated his commitment to addressing homelessness. He stated, “Since 2003, we have proved that the power of football can change lives. Through our annual tournament and our partnerships around the world, we are dedicated to tackling and ultimately ending homelessness.” Young expressed the collective sentiment of the Homeless World Cup community, stating that everyone has deeply missed the annual tournament and is thrilled to announce that Sacramento, California, and California State University, Sacramento, will host the Homeless World Cup in 2023.
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