São Paulo – It is scheduled for 9.30 this Saturday (28th) the opening of the Refugees Cup, football championship organized by foreign refugees living in Brazil with support of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Unhcr) and the Caritas Archdiocese of São Paulo. The event will be held in the outskirts of Peace Church (Igreja da Paz), in Baixada do Glicério, central area of São Paulo. The place also holds (Peace Mission) Missão Paz and Migrants House (Casa do Migrante), where people seeking refugee are welcomed.
According to the Unhcr, the tournament will have 16 teams comprised of people from several countries. This Saturday matches of the first round will be drawn, a Cup anthem composed by two refugee rappers will be presented and other cultural activities will be held.
The actual games were scheduled to take place on August 2nd and 3rd at the Glicério Sports Center (Centro Esportivo Glicério), also known as Campo da Tia Eva. According to the Unhcr, the matches were originally planned to take place on July 5th and 6th, but they were postponed due to Ramadan, sacred month in the Islamic calendar which starts this weekend.
At the time, the Muslims fast during the day and only feed before sunrise and after sunset. The Unhcr informed that many of the teams have Muslim players and, in respect to Ramadan, the organization decided to change the dates.
The UN agency added that the championship is organized by refugees from countries such as Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Syria, Bangladesh, Angola and Burkina Faso. The event has partnerships and accepts donations.
For further information and donations:
http://caritas.org.br/dezesseis-selecoes-nacionais-em-uma-autentica-copa-dos-refugiados/26379 (Portuguese and English)
https://www.facebook.com/copadosrefugiados (Portuguese)
http://www.kickante.com.br/campanhas/copa-dos-refugiados-acnurcaritassp (Portuguese)
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
