On Sunday afternoon Glasgow will set the stage for the 2016 Homeless World Cup. 64 teams, 52 countries and over 100,000 spectators will feature over the course of the week, with the finals taking place on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th July. George Square in the heart of the city has been transformed into outdoor street football venue to host one of the most unique and inspiring competitions in the sporting world.
Mel Young and Harald Schmied founded the HWC in 2003. Their mission is to ‘inspire homeless people to change their lives through the power of football’; with over 100 million homeless people worldwide, the HWC is tackling a major social issue on a global scale. It is estimated that approximately 100,000 homeless people are engaging in the event every year, which demonstrates the campaign is achieving their goal, while raising awareness and building sustainable partnerships across the world.
Jason Roberts, David Eustace, Scott Brown and Emmanuel Petit are just a small selection of ambassadors who are supporting the movement and encouraging more people to get involved whether it be sponsoring, spectating or participating. Having such public figures backing the HWC has certainly helped increase the credibility and popularity of the tournament. Over 4 million people are expected to view the competition online, therefore they will be hoping for a significant increase of engagement through their social media platforms and potentially attract some more influential figures to the foundation.
The format of the tournament consists of 4-a-side matches, 7-minute halves for both men and women. To add to the drama and excitement, no match can finish on a draw, therefore if a winner is not decided after 14 minutes of play; the contest will be decided by sudden-death penalties. A devastating way to lose any match, however all the games are played in a competitive yet friendly spirit.
In Scotland’s first matches the men’s team will face Hong Kong at 1pm Sunday 10th, followed by the ladies squad taking on Norway in their opening fixture. The home nation triumphed in the competition in 2007 and more recently in 2011, however both teams will be desperately looking for success this year to please the home support as lets be honest, they haven’t exactly had much to cheer about when it’s come to the Scotland national team in international competitions of late.
The HWC is a global movement that is continuing to change the lives of millions of people for the better. Over the past 13 years, the competition itself has grown in stature and admiration, subsequently leading to many established organisations and individuals supporting and commending the annual event. For many of you, like myself, you may be unfamiliar with the HWC. Nevertheless, after doing some research on the movement, it became very clear that they are tackling much deeper issues than homelessness through the use of football. The players come from a variety of different backgrounds and upbringings spanning from drug and alcohol abuse to isolation and depression. The HWC has given hundreds of thousands of people an opportunity to fight such issues and impact their lives in a positive and healthy way.
At 360 Sports Consultancy, we would like to wish all the teams and countries involved the very best of luck!