Austrian event for socially excluded

Homeless youngsters and young people from urban crisis areas around the world are being invited to Austria in July for a week-long UEFA-backed tournament in which football will be used as a vehicle to publicise the plight of socially excluded people.

Graz venue
The Homeless Streetsoccer World Championship will take place in the Austrian city of Graz from 7 to 13 July. Teams from each of the world's continents will join together for the event, which is being organised by the International Network of Street Papers (INSP).

Social respect
"The championship wants to offer the chance to give social respect and dignity back to young homeless from around the world by means of sport," the INSP said. "Football is capable of filling all social classes with enthusiasm. The world championship offers young homeless a totally new room of identification. In playing football, the so-called losers in achievement-oriented society will have a chance to be winners again."

Daily matches
The tournament's centre courts will be located in the heart of Graz, which has been declared European Cultural Capital for 2003 by the European Union. Matches are scheduled to take place every day between 17.00CET and 21.30, and a special supporting programme will accompany the competition.

Universal language
Each team will consist of ten people - four players, four substitutes and two coaches - and the simple rules of streetsoccer will guarantee exciting matches, even if the players are not professional. "The championship revitalises the myth of football-playing street children, of the socially excluded, whose best way to express themselves is football as a universal language that is globally understood," the INSP added.

For further information, visit www.streetsoccer.org.