TOP INTERNATIONAL REFEREE RETURNS TO WORLD CUP
5
November 2008, Top international referee Kim Milton Nielsen has thrown
his support behind the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup and will be
refereeing matches in the life-changing international football
tournament, which runs from December 1-7 at Federation Square,
Melbourne, Australia.
56 national teams made up of homeless people from around the world will be competing in the sixth Homeless World Cup under the World Cup scrutiny of the Danish referee, whose career includes 154 internationals, 53 UEFA Champions League games and FIFA World Cup matches.
A veteran of some of the world’s most
important football games, Milton Nielsen is best known as the man who
gave England’s David Beckham a red card in the 1998 FIFA World Cup
against Argentina.
After refereeing at last year’s Homeless
World Cup in Copenhagen, including the final won by Scotland attended
by HRH Crown Prince of Denmark, Milton Nielsen experienced first-hand
the power of football to change lives.
“I saw all the positive
things it gave to the players,” Milton Nielsen said. “The whole week
was a great highlight – the happiness and the way the players enjoy the
tournament was fantastic.
“The Homeless World Cup is an
excellent initiative to inspire an excluded group. Football has the
ability to gather people and to be used as a catalyst for changing
lives.”
While accustomed to working in a high-pressure
environment, his advice to players in the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World
Cup is to “enjoy every second.”
“I hope everybody has a great
tournament and meets a lot of good friends,” Milton Nielsen said. “It
is not only on the pitch that you win. To participate also makes you a
winner.”
Milton Nielsen will be part of a team of over 35
international and local referees officiating at the Melbourne 2008
Homeless World Cup. Other international referees include Gerhard
Holzmann and Reinhart Raminger of Austria, Iain McGill from Scotland,
Niall Waters-Fuller from England, Nkosinathi “Shoes” Manhono from South
Africa and Ssekabira Ntege Abudu of Uganda.
56 nations,
including eight all-female teams participating in the first-ever
Women’s Homeless World Cup, will play a total of 349 matches over the
week-long tournament.
Matches are played on a pitch measuring
22m x 16m and consist of two seven-minute halves, with four players per
side on pitch – three field players and one in goal.
The Homeless World Cup final takes place on Sunday afternoon, December 7.
Ends
About Homeless World Cup (www.homelessworldcup.org)The Homeless World Cup is a world-class international football tournament that has triggered and supports grass roots football programmes in over 60 nations engaging 30,000 players who are homeless all year round.
At the 6th Homeless World Cup in Melbourne 1-7 December 2008, 56 nations will be united for a tournament that includes the first women’s cup and a legacy of 30 street soccer programmes rolled out by The Big Issue in Australia.
The inaugural Homeless World Cup kicked off in Graz, Austria uniting 18 nations. Since then it has gained great momentum in Gothenburg, Sweden (2004), Edinburgh, Scotland (2005), Cape Town, South Africa (2006) and Copenhagen, Denmark (2007). It will visit Milan in 2009.
The Homeless World Cup is supported by UEFA, Nike, The
Vodafone Foundation, Global Ambassador Eric Cantona and international
footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.
For more information please contact:
Kat Byles
Homeless World Cup
+44 (0)7901 701334
kat@homelessworldcup.org
