São Paulo – The São Paulo leg of the Refugee Cup will be played over the next two weekends. The city is hosting the competition for the fifth time, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said this Thursday (23).
The teams will be drawn into groups at 9 am on Friday (25) at sports complex Centro Olímpico de Treinamento e Pesquisa (COTP) in Vila Clementino, a district in south side São Paulo.
The championship will feature 320 refugee and migrant players in 16 national teams: Angola, Cameroon, South Korea, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Togo, Venezuela, and Arab countries Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco and Syria.
The Refugee Cup is held by NGO África do Coração and its theme is Não me julgue antes de me conhecer (or Don’t judge me before you get to know me). The tournament is supported by the UNHCR, by São Paulo’s municipal secretariats for Sports and Leisure, International Relations and Human Rights, and by Sodexo On-Site.
According to the UNHCR, two legs of the championship have been played this year: Senegal won in Porto Alegre, and Angola (pictured above) won in Rio de Janeiro.
Fact sheet
Refugee Cup opening ceremony and group draws
Friday 24, 9 am
Centro Olímpico de Treinamento e Pesquisa (COTP), Auditorium 1
Rua Pedro de Toledo, 1,651, Vila Clementino
Dates and Hours
Aug. 25th, 8 am-6 pm, Jardim São Paulo, Rua Parque Domingos Luís, 566: round of 16
Aug. 26, 8 am-5 pm, Parque da Aclimação, Rua Muniz de Sousa, 1,119: quarter-finals
Sept. 1, 8 am-3 pm, Estádio Vila Manchester, Praça Haroldo Daltro, no number: semifinals and third-place playoff
Sept. 2, 9 am-noon, Estádio do Canindé, Rua Comendador Nestor Pereira, 33: final match
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
