48 Nations One Goal!
Posted by Thomson Financial - 01/10/2007
The start of this year's Homeless World Cup displayed exactly this tag line. All nations playing started the 2007 tournament dynamically and full of enthusiasm. Valentina Apdarmani and Uta Krafzik report
The players on the field showed not merely respect for the rules like the soccer-pros we know from telly but also for each other. Ambituously they were scoring goals but at the same time they were shaking hands whenever leaving the pitch. They took all the effort - some have travelled from destinations far away such as Australia or Uganda and the audience surely has not disappointed them: the pitch at the Radhuspladsen where the opening match took place was full of supporters. There were people who have just come over as tourists but there were a lot of volunteers like us, Uta and Valentina.
The two of us had the opportunity to get a first insight into the various processes of how a press and media centre works in order to keep the journalists, who cover this event, updated. There is, for instance, the registration of journalists; an important task as interviews need to be organized and meetings with players and organisers to be set up.
For us it has been very interesting indeed as we have met journalists from our home countries or from magazines we read. In the latter case we had the pleasure (definitely!!) to meet Clare McCarthy from the Economist. Interestingly, she usually covers political issues but, like us, this week she will be dealing with a socio-sport event. Another 'face' usually operating off-stage was a journalist from Athens working for the private television channel Alpha, covering the Homeless World Cup with his team. Such a pity, though: Greece lost 0:5 against Zimbabwe.
We are sure that evertone who is involved in this year's tournament will enjoy their roles. It's not forgotten that we are all working for the same cause - an essential one - namely supporting those who are less well-off. The fundraising has been successful enough to get 48 teams to Copenhagen. Hopefully, the support will continue once the players have gone back home and get back into their daily routines - so that the 500 individuals will have a more promising future.
