Edinburgh 2005 - Impact Report

One year on 77% of players involved changed their lives for the better

The Edinburgh 2005 Homeless World Cup tournament saw 27 nations brought together for an inspirational street soccer tournament that attracted crowds of over 50,000 throughout a week during July 2005.
 
The Social Impact Study commissioned to assess the improvements in the lives of the players one year on reported the following significant, positive changes to their lives:-

• 94% (198 players) have a new motivation for life
• 77% (164 players) have changed their lives significantly in one or more of the following ways:
• 38% (80 players) have regular employment
•  40% (85 players) have improved their housing situation
• 28% (60 players) have opted to develop their education
• Of the 91 players addressing a drug or alcohol dependency, 68% (62 players) succeeded
• 12 players now make their living partly from football as coaches or players with professional and semi-professional teams

Mel Young, President, The Homeless World Cup said: “The Homeless World Cup has proved yet again that sport, and in our case football, has enormous power to create real and lasting change. Although the tournament has now grown to become a first class sporting event in itself, the overall goal of the Homeless World Cup is to create a mechanism where homeless people can change the circumstances in their lives. This is what has happened with 77% of the players changing their lives forever following our 2005 event in Scotland.

“In Cape Town with 48 teams participating and at least 10,000 homeless people involved in preparations, The Homeless World Cup’s impact is significant and growing around the world.”

João Semedo, 21, played with Portugal in the 2005 Homeless World Cup: ”I feel like I am a real citizen for the first time in my life. It was almost like becoming a football star. I have discovered a new person, a better person inside of me.” ”Everybody should have the chance to experience something like this, and show the world what people are able to do,” added Luis Antonio Ramírez, 47, Spain.

The Homeless World Cup Partners were delighted with the players’ success. Maria Bobenrieth, Corporate Responsibility Director for Nike Europe, Middle East and Africa said: “Nike is immensely proud to support the Homeless World Cup. This report confirms our belief that sport can be a very powerful tool for positive social change. We applaud Mel and his team for combining the magic of sport with an innovative social program and turning it into a world-class event. Most of all we congratulate and thank all of the participants for entertaining us with their athletic skill and inspiring us with their personal courage.”

CEO UEFA, Lars-Christer Olsson said: "UEFA as the governing body of European football is particularly committed to supporting football at grass roots level and the opportunity sport has for development. We have been involved with the Homeless World Cup since its inception and appreciate the enormous power this vehicle has to help people move on with their lives. The results announced within this 2005 Homeless World Cup Impact Report demonstrate why UEFA is pleased to be a patron of this excellent initiative.  We continue to support the fast growing positive impact the Homeless World Cup is having and would like to extend our congratulations to all the players who have taken the courageous step to move forwards with their lives."

Download the full report here

• Street Soccer Rules >
• Competition >
• World Rankings >
• The Referees >
• Past Tournaments >
• Graz 2003
• Gothenburg 2004
• Edinburgh 2005
• Impact Report
• Player Quotes
• Results
• Cape Town 2006
• Copenhagen 2007
• Melbourne 2008
• Milano 2009