Nigeria, Forty-seven other nations to participate In Homeless World Cup

France and the City of Paris will host Nigeria and forty six other nations at the 9th Homeless World Cup.

Over 500 players will unite on the Champs–de-Mars, in the shadow of the Eiffel tower, for the week long tournament which uses football to energize homeless and people living in poverty, into changing their own lives.

Homeless World Cup President, Mel Young in an official letter addressed to the Executive Director of Search and Groom, Yomi Kuku, said the Homeless World Cup is delighted to inform and confirm Search and Groom Youth For Development as the official organizer of the Nigerian National Street Soccer Team and all surrounding selection activities for the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup”.

Nigeria has played at the Homeless World Cup four times with the debut in Cape Town 2006, Copenhagen 2007, Melbourne 2008 and in Milan 2009 going on to play in the semi finals.

Teams heading to Paris include last year’s winners Brazil, host France, Germany, England, Sweden, Ghana, South Africa, India, Kenya, Cambodia and Indonesia, who will be attending the event for the first time.

During the tournament, the players will be demonstrating their football skills in front of an estimated 50,000 strong crowd on specially designed pitches at one of France’s most iconic landmarks.

The Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup is supported nationally by Collectif ‘Remise en Jeu’, and Arsène Wenger, Manager of Arsenal Football Club, who is President of the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup Local Organising Committee.

He joins former international professional footballers Emmanuel Petit and Lilian Thuram, as ambassadors of the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup.

The Homeless World Cup promotes social integration through football and creates fresh, inventive solutions to end homelessness and poverty worldwide.