Football for underprivileged: India to take part in Homeless World Cup in Glasgow

Mumbai: An organisation that uses football as a tool for the social upliftment of downtrodden and at-risk youth, Slum Soccer, has tied up with Tata Trusts and Football Players Association of India (FPAI) to enable India’s participation in the Homeless World Cup 2016. [caption id=“attachment_2894322” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AP[/caption] The Homeless World Cup is an annual football tournament focusing on advocating a global awareness about homelessness. The current edition of the Homeless World Cup kicked off in Glasgow on 9 July. The Indian team has been selected through extensive trials from a vast catchment pool of under-represented talent, the release said. Slum Soccer, India’s official partner to the Homeless World Cup for a decade, is using football as the medium to transcend race, religion, language and gender to bring about a change in the lives of slum dwellers through the beautiful game, it said. As per the release, with over 8,000 at-risk youth enrolled in 37 centers across India, Slum Soccer has specific programmes tailored around the medium of football that focus on matters ranging from literacy and gender equality to de-addiction and natural resource management.