In football, the European Championships may be over for another four years but before Glasgow turns it’s attention to the Scotland World Cup qualifiers, the city plays host to the 14th Homeless World Cup.
The Homeless World Cup is an annual event that aims to inspire the homeless to change their lives for the better through the use of “the beautiful game”, football.
The event has even been praised by United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, who said that the tournament is “a pioneering social movement that uses football to inspire and promote positive change in people’s lives.”
The tournament will see 64 teams from 52 countries worldwide represented and Glasgow Caledonian University has an extra special role to play.
George Square has temporarily been transformed into a street football venue that can hold up to 3,500 spectators.
GCU this year is an official event partner of the Homeless World Cup meaning the university will act as an ‘event hub’ during the tournament. This means that the university campus will house hundreds of participants in Caledonian Court, the university-ran student accommodation. Six GCU students are also running daily events including Zumba classes as well as a highland games carnival. GCU PhD researcher and physio graduate Megan Lloyd is also leading a team of students to provide pitch-side assistance for players during the competition.
The Homeless World Cup was co-founded in 2001 by Mel Young, who is also an honorary doctorate of GCU. His previous work has also included co-founding the Big Issue magazine in Scotland. In an interview he said that “the Homeless World Cup needs it’s partners, it cant do everything on it’s on own and so for Glasgow we have created a partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University.” He went on to praise the university values, claiming that it’s mantra of “for the common good” is exactly what the Homeless World Cup is all about.
An opening parade began at the university on Sunday evening before the opening fixtures in George Square.
GCU Student President Lauren Ramage said: “It’s tremendous to see our university supporting the Homeless World Cup and it really does positively display how we are the university for the common good. It’s great to see so many of our students volunteering at the event and the atmosphere on campus with all the individuals involved is just terrific. I highly recommend that everyone gets down to George Square at some point this week to show their support of such a fantastic competition.”
Scotland kicked-off their tournament on Sunday in a convincing fashion with victories in both the men and women’s competitions. The men ran out 8-4 victors in their opening Group A match against Hong Kong however the women stole the day, hitting top form with an impressive 11-1 victory over Norway in Group B. Both teams face double fixtures on Monday with the men facing-off against Egypt and Bosnia & Herzgovina whilst the women will play against the Ivory Coast and then face a home nations derby against Wales.
Scotland will also have a number of fixtures on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and will no doubt be aiming to make it to the knockout stages of the tournament.
Could home-turf advantage see glory for the tartan army? Who will be crowned world champions? How many times will you be likely to see a world cup final being played in George Square?
Feature photo credit: Neil Alexander
