Players report back from 2006
Posted by Russia - 04/07/2007
Slava Shelaevsky left his small village in the north of Russia in the beginning of 2005 and came to Saint-Petersburg looking for better life. He didn’t have a registration in the city so he had no right to an official and fair paid job. Without a job he had no chance to pay for accommodation. The Police arrested him as an illegal inhabitant of the city, and he had to pay the police and became a participant in the greatest corruption. Problem followed problem. And maybe it was impossible to break on through these problems being alone.
Slava is fan of football and he had chosen Saint-Petersburg, hearing information about a homeless football team. He joined it on making his first steps into the city. It was his family.
He was found “too homeless” to participate in the Homeless World Cup in Edinburgh – and was not granted a visa. But he continued his training efforts to become champion of the world in Cape Town the following year. And it gave him inspiration to secure for himself semi-legal registration. Now he has official job giving him the chance to to rent a small room not far from his native stadium – football is definitely his life!
ANDREY MITIN
Some players from the Russian homeless team remember their goalkeeper Andrey Mitin sleeping in the basements. He was desperately homeless and he had severe alcohol problem. But he had football too – because he loved it. His first participation in the homeless football tournament took place in 2006 – it was at the first Homeless Russia Open in Saint-Petersburg. Andrey was chosen and invited to play with the Russian national homeless team, in Cape Town and became a champion of the world! He came back to his native Siberia as a national hero. The last information from him is that now he have established his own business and is organizing in his city one more homeless football team!
See Slava lift the trophy in Russia's photo log.
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