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TOGETHER AS ONE . . . Members of Team Zimbabwe (in yellow and white tops) celebrate with their counterparts from the rest of the world during last year’s Homeless World Cup football tournament in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The team is currently preparing to take part in the 14th edition of the same event in Glasgow, Scotland, in July

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
TEAM Zimbabwe for this year’s Homeless World Cup has received a timely boost ahead of the annual global football tournament with an anonymous well-wisher yesterday pledging to pay part of the side’s travel expenses to Glasgow, Scotland, in July.

The Homeless World Cup is an annual international tournament that uses football to energise and empower people who are homeless, marginalised or socially excluded in a bid to change their lives.

Three football pitches with a seating capacity for 3 500 spectators will be installed in George Square in July when Glasgow hosts the 2016 Homeless World Cup.

The event, which is set to run from July 10 to 16, will feature 48 men’s and 16 women’s teams from 52 countries, including Zimbabwe.

Glasgow is hosting the 14th edition of the tournament. The first took place in Graz, Austria, in 2003, with Scotland having last staged the event in 2005, in Edinburgh.

The tournament’s aim is to inspire homeless people to change their lives.

The Homeless World Cup was set up by the International Network of Street Papers and Mel Young, founder of the Big Issue in Scotland.

After taking part in the Homeless World Cup tournament five times including the 2013 event in Poznan, Poland, and at last year’s competition in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Zimbabwe have once again been invited to compete in this year’s event in Glasgow.

And yesterday there was some good news emanating from the Team Zimbabwe camp after a well-wisher, who asked not to be named, pledged to pay part of the team’s travel expenses, including their visa fees, to the UK for this year’s tournament.

Petros Chatiza, the director of the Young Achievement Sports for Development, who pick Team Zimbabwe for the Homeless World Cup tournaments, revealed that the well-wisher has indicated that he will pay for the travelling party’s visas and four air tickets which will all cost around $6 000.

“He is the same person who helped us send Team Zimbabwe to the 2013 Homeless World Cup in Poznan, Poland, and he has offered to pay for all our visa fees and will then buy air tickets for four of the 13 people who would be travelling to the UK for this year’s tournament.

“So, we are very grateful to this person, who is publicity shy, for his kind gesture and we are now appealing for other people, including the corporate world, to also come on board and help us to raise money for the air tickets of nine other members of Team Zimbabwe.

“We are now looking at raising about $12 000 which will cater for the nine air tickets ($9 600) and the out-of-pocket allowances for the whole group ($2 400) during their intended two-week stay in the UK for this year’s Homeless World Cup,” Chatiza said.

According to Rachel May, the international partnership manager of the Homeless World Cup, accommodation and food will be provided for the duration of the tournament. However, travel to and from Glasgow “must be paid” by the participating partner.

Before travelling to Glasgow, Team Zimbabwe will first pass through Liverpool, England, where they have been invited for a one-week training camp by the Liverpool Homeless Football Club, thanks to former Zimbabwe international Chamu Musanhu.

Musanhu, the former Dynamos centre-back who also featured for the Zimbabwe Under-23 side in the 1990s before graduating into the senior team, is now based in Liverpool and he recently asked the Liverpool Homeless Football Club to host their counterparts from Zimbabwe for one week ahead of this year’s World Cup.

During the week that the Liverpool Homeless Football Club have agreed to host Team Zimbabwe, they will help them with their final preparations for the Glasgow tournament.

Steve Barton, an official of the Liverpool Homeless Football Club, recently said from UK that they have already put in place a training programme for Team Zimbabwe during their proposed one-week stay in the famous English city at the beginning of July.

“We have already got a tour of the city (in place) for your team by a tour guide and we are planning a small tournament for Wednesday 6th of July with eight teams taking part as part of your preparations for the Homeless World Cup,” Barton recently said in his invitation letter to Chatiza.

And Chatiza said they are now looking at leaving for the UK on July 2 or 3 where they will first head to Liverpool for the one-week training camp before travelling to Glasgow for the 2016 Homeless World Cup. At last year’s tournament in Amsterdam, Zimbabwe finished 15th out of 47 countries that took part in the competition.