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Sunday, July 11, 2010

FIFA World Cup: Vuvuzelas for the Homeless, Refugees and Slumdogs

FIFA World Cup: Vuvuzelas for the Homeless, Refugees and Slumdogs


Indian Holocaust My fatehr`s Life and Time- Four Hundred and SEVENTEEN

Palash Biswas

http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/

Two new chapters in World Cup history will be written at Soccer City on Sunday.

Why do some people deny black people are very good at football/soccer?

we make up over 20% of European football players but like 1% of Europe that says something one day we will dominate it like black in ameirca dominate NBA
Brazil are the best and they are mostly black or have black in them
Pele anyone remember him he remains the best ever!
E'to Henry, Ronaldinho do i need to go on.
France won the world cup with a majority black team
England has a race quatoar or suttin on the sly so they are only letting in a few black people but I know a full or mostly black team like France would make our chances better.
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100226220311AAUluMh

Soccer, the most widely played sport around the world, is quiet possibly the greatest sport of all time. Besides having the power to turn its participants into some of the worlds most conditioned athletes the sport of Soccer is also a symbol of friendship, unity and hope in many of the worlds most impoverished countries. Around the world, Soccer is viewed as a true team sport. Globally, it serves as a uniting factor between the old and the young, the rich and the poor. Athletically soccer players are constantly thinking and moving as a team.

Spain's meeting with Holland guarantees that a new name will be on the trophy by the end of the evening.

Changing lives through a movement called Zhopadpatti (Slum) football

Posted by Vijay Barse - 18/04/2008

I started with conducting matches for slums in our area, to keep them from bad habits. But today 7 years later it has reached a http://webmail.sify.com/mail/?AuthEventSource=SSO#drafts/129c2d59f2870a98national proportion. Our pilot project YOUNGSTARS has been well received with nearly children from 4 villages taking part. We provide them with training followed by milk and then we engage them in studies.

This year we will extending slum football tournament to nearly 20 states in India. Starting at city level, then state level and finishing of at National Level at which the national team is selected. We believe in reaching the last sportsperson, so we start at grassroot and take it to the top.

The rule is "Play the Game", at the local level there is no restriction on kits and shoes the ground measurement also varies. What does not change is the enthusiasm that oversweeps everyone around.

Every year our co-ordinators go to new cities and villages to encourage youth to take up this challenge, out of this youth select local representatives who represent their areas. The team of Krida Vikas Sanstha is ever expanding with new coordinators being added to the board.

Female players are especially encouraged to take part, an all female team is also in preparation and will soon feature at our national tournament.

Taking a cue from this we have also started a year round project especially targeting the rural young children. We take pride in saying that football has not only changed their lives but also the lives of their parent. The children are reporting better grades in their schools which has boosted parents interest in the game.

http://www.homelessworldcup.org/members/CoachIndia/posts/changing-live-through-a-movement-called-football



Every year, The Homeless World Cup showcases this sports awesome power to change the world. This annual, international football tournament gives teams of homeless athletes a once-in-a-lifetime chance to represent their countries and change their lives forever. Every year, an estimated 73% of these homeless athletes change their lives, and serve as real life role models for millions of other impoverished people, by coming off drugs and alcohol, attaining jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with their families and even going on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams.

And, with over one billion homeless people living all over the world today The Homeless World Cup has no shortage of participants or supporters. In fact, this international tournament is backed by such giants as UEFA, Nike, Manchester United, The United Nations, and international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.

Today, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is confirmed as the host city for the 8th annual Homeless World Cup. On September 19th homeless soccer players from all 5 continents will gather in Copacabana beach to play ball and help better our world one goal at a time. Of course, both the people of Brazil and the officials of The Homeless world Cup are overjoyed. According to Mel Young, President of The Homeless World Cup, Rio is the perfect location to host the 2010 Homeless World Cup. Brazil is the home of football with many of its star players rising from the streets of Brazil to the global football stage.

The most famous team to enter The Homeless World Cup is the South African team. This team gained international exposure when it became the subject of Demetrius Wrens new documentary, Streetball. Martin Africa, a 31 year-old man from Cape Town became the main focus of this documentary and the face of The Homeless World Cup when he said to the documentary crew, I want to change my life. What I really want is just to have a house, have a job, and to have my son in my arms every day. Thats all. And I wont give up hope. If you give up hope you might as well die.



Homeless World Cup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Homeless World Cup in Melbourne, Australia

The Homeless World Cup is an international football tournament, where teams made up entirely of people who are homeless compete. The event has been held annually since 2003. The latest Homeless World Cup was held in Milan, Italy in September 2009.

Contents

[hide]

[edit] Origin

Scoring a goal at Homeless World Cup 2007 in Copenhagen, Denmark

It was at the end of the 2001 International Network of Street Papers Conference in Cape Town, South Africa that Mel Young, co-founder of The Big Issue Scotland, and Harald Schmied, editor of Megaphon, a street paper in Austria, came up with the idea for the Homeless World Cup. Whilst searching for an international language to unite homeless people around the world, they realised one existed. Mel Young, and Harald Schmied decided to make it happen and 18 months later the first tournament took place in Graz, Austria. It was such a success, with a profound and visible impact on the players, never seen before, that they decided to do more.

[edit] History

[edit] 2003 Homeless World Cup

The first Homeless World Cup was held in Graz, Austria

  1. Template:Jamaica
  2.  England
  3.  Netherlands
  4.  Brazil

As a testament to its success, 31 of the 141 players from the 2003 tournament held regular jobs a year later.[1]

[edit] 2004 Homeless World Cup

The 2004 Homeless World Cup took place in Gothenburg, Sweden from 25 July to 1 August. The list of participants increased from 18 teams in 2003 to 29 teams in 2004. Italy beat defending champions Austria in the final, 4-0.

The top finishers were:

  1.  Italy
  2.  Austria
  3.  Poland
  4.  Scotland
  • Fair Play Award:  Japan
  • Best Goalkeeper Award: Kevin Wilson ( England)
  • Golden Shoe Award for best goalscorer: Adamenko Yevgen ( Ukraine, 53 goals)

[edit] 2005 Homeless World Cup

The 2005 Homeless World Cup took place in Princes Street Gardens in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland from 20 - 24 July and Italy managed to defend their title. 2005's initial host, New York, had to back out because of issues in obtaining visas for the homeless players. 32 teams and 250 players were due to participate in the event but five African teams were refused entry to the UK, leaving 27 nations to compete.[2]

The top finishers were:

  1.  Italy
  2.  Poland
  3.  Ukraine
  4.  Scotland

One year after the 2005 Homeless World Cup 77% of players have significantly changed their lives forever moving into jobs, education and training, coming off drugs and alcohol, finding homes and renewing relationships with their families.

[edit] 2006 Homeless World Cup

The host city in 2006 was Cape Town, South Africa. From 24-30 September, teams from 48 nations competed for the championship title. 496 players participated, scoring over 1800 goals in more than 300 matches.

The top finishers:

  1.  Russia
  2.  Kazakhstan
  3.  Poland
  4.  Mexico

Several other titles were also awarded:

[edit] Kicking It Documentary

The 2006 Homeless World Cup was the subject of a documentary entitled Kicking It.[3][4] directed by Susan Koch and Jeff Werner focusing on the experiences of seven homeless people at the Homeless World Cup football (soccer) game. Featured in the documentary, narrated by actor Colin Farrell were residents of Afghanistan; Kenya; Dublin, Ireland; Charlotte, North Carolina; Madrid, Spain and St. Petersburg in Russia. The film premiered in January, 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival and is being distributed by Liberation Entertainment, Netflix and ESPN.

[edit] 2007 Homeless World Cup

Homeless World Cup 2007 at The City Hall Square, Copenhagen

The host city in 2007 was Copenhagen, Denmark. From 29 July - 4 August, teams from 48 nations competed for the championship title, with Scotland winning the title.[5]

The top finishers:

  1.  Scotland
  2.  Poland
  3.  Liberia
  4.  Denmark

[edit] 2008 Homeless World Cup

Crowd around the field at Homeless World Cup 2008 in Melbourne, Australia

The 2008 tournament was held in Melbourne, Australia, from 1-7 December, at two parks: Federation Square and Birrarung Marr.[6] It had a new record of participating projects. National Teams from 56 nations gathered in Melbourne. Amongst them, for the first time, eight all-female teams competed in the Homeless Women's World Cup.[7] Afghanistan won the men's title, defeating Russia 5-4 in the final.[8] Zambia won the inaugural Homeless Women's World Cup, defeating Liberia 7-1 in the final.[9]

The top finishers were:

  1.  Afghanistan
  2.  Russia
  3.  Ghana
  4.  Scotland


[edit] 2009 Homeless World Cup

The 2009 tournament was held in Milan, Italy, from 6-13 September, at the Arena Civica, Sempione Park [10], and featured 500 players from 48 nations.

The top finishers were:

  1.  Ukraine
  2.  Portugal
  3.  Brazil
  4.  Nigeria

A series of additional cups were awarded as follows:


[edit] 2010 Homeless World Cup

The 2010 tournament will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at Copacabana beach in September 19-26 2010[11].

[edit] 2011 Homeless World Cup

The 2011 tournament will be held in Paris, France, at a location near the Eiffel Tower[12].


[edit] The Tournament

[edit] Player Eligibility

Players at the Homeless World Cup 2007

Players must:

  • Be male or female and at least 16 years old at the time of the tournament
  • Have been homeless at some point after the previous year's World Cup OR
  • Make their main living income as a streetpaper vendor OR
  • Be asylum seekers (who have neither positive asylum status nor working permit)

Anyone can participate regardless of his or her ability.

[edit] Participants

A maximum of 4 players per team on the court:

  • 3 outfield players,
  • 1 goalkeeper,
  • Plus 4 substitution players (rolling substitution allowed)

[edit] Tournament details

  • The winning team gets 3 points. The losing team zero. If a match ends in a draw, it is decided by sudden-death penalty shootup.

In this case the winning team gets three points and the losing team gets one point.

  • Games are 14 minutes long, in two seven-minute halves.
  • The field is 22m (long) x 16m (wide).

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Homeless football cup under way". BBC News Online. 2004-07-26. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3926323.stm. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  2. ^ "Kick off for Homeless World Cup". BBC News Online. 2005-07-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4696000/4696999.stm. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  3. ^ "Kicking It" documentary official website
  4. ^ Palmer, Nancy Doyle (2008-06-01). "Spotlight: Susan Koch". Washingtonian. http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/8004.html. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  5. ^ "Scotland win Homeless World Cup". BBC News Online. 2007-08-05. http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ifs_news/hi/newsid_6931000/6931518.stm. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  6. ^ "Melbourne 2008". HomelessWorldCup.org. http://www.homelessworldcup.org/content/melbourne-2008. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  7. ^ "Homeless World Cup groups". HomelessWorldCup.org. http://www.homelessworldcup.org/groups. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  8. ^ Cooke, Dewi (2008-12-08). "Afghanistan United: homeless soccer stars hold the cup aloft". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/12/07/1228584656812.html. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  9. ^ Crawford, Fiona (2008-12-07). "Zambia takes the crown". HomelessWorldCup.org. http://www3.homelessworldcup.org/zine/news/zambia-takes-the-crown. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  10. ^ "Milan 2009". HomelessWorldCup.org. http://www.homelessworldcup.org/content/milano-2009. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
  11. ^ "Joy as RIO and PARIS win 2010 and 2011 Homeless World Cup bids.". HomelessWorldCup.org. http://www.homelessworldcup.org/zine/news/joy-as-rio-and-paris-win-2010-and-2011-homeless-world-cup-bids-surprise-2013-win-for-poznan. Retrieved 2010-02-04. 
  12. ^ "Joy as RIO and PARIS win 2010 and 2011 Homeless World Cup bids.". HomelessWorldCup.org. http://www.homelessworldcup.org/zine/news/joy-as-rio-and-paris-win-2010-and-2011-homeless-world-cup-bids-surprise-2013-win-for-poznan. Retrieved 2010-02-04. 

[edit] External links

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Homeless World Cup
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeless_World_Cup"



Sunday, July 11, 2010
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RIL should bid to take over BP

11 Jul 2010, 0730 hrs IST,Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar,TNN
Topics:
  • India
  • Mukesh Ambani
  • united states
  • BP
  • British Petroleum
  • Gulf of Mexico
  • Mobil
  • Macondo well
    *

    Stock Quote: RIL

    Stock Quote: RNRL

    Ambani Brothers: Who owns what?

    Ambani Brothers Reconciliation



    The share price of British Petroleum, the fourth largest company in the world, has halved after causing the greatest environmental disaster in history. Its out-of-control Macondo well is spewing thousands of barrels of oil daily into the Gulf of Mexico, killing birds and sea life and ruining tourist beaches and the livelihoods of fishermen. It has been obliged to suspend dividends and put $20 billion into an escrow account from which damages will be paid.


    But disaster for some means opportunity for others. Mukesh Ambani suddenly has an opportunity to take over the fourth largest company in the world. Reliance is small compared with the global oil majors. Yet the stock market has driven down BP's market value to just $100 billion, not far above Reliance's $80 billion.


    Mukesh could offer a merger in which two Reliance shares would be exchanged for every BP share, giving BP shareholders a substantial premium over their current market value. This would, however, carry the risk of sinking Reliance if BP itself is driven into bankruptcy by a failure to plug the Macondo well.


    So Mukesh can explore a less risky option. BP seeks a big investment in its shares to lift market confidence, and has approached sovereign wealth funds and rich Arabs. But these investors burned their fingers when they bought into distressed US banks (notably Citibank) in 2008, and then suffered huge losses when the banks plunged into near-bankruptcy. Once bitten, twice shy.


    Mukesh is not a passive investor. He wants control. So, he could buy a 10% to 15 % stake in BP, which at current prices would cost between $10 billion and $15 billion. This will give Mukesh a Board seat, not total control of BP. But he can increase his stake later and acquire control once the Macondo well is capped, limiting the damages BP will have to pay.


    Borrowing $10 billion to $15 billion for this strategy will be easy for a company with a market value of $80 billion. Borrowing this sum will still leave Reliance with a very respectable debt-equity ratio of less than one. It has a strong balance sheet, with cash in hand of $5 billion. It will not suffer the mountainous debt-equity ratios that burdened Tata Steel in taking over Corus, or Hindalco in taking over Novellis.


    Also Read

    → RIL raises $1 bn to fund projects

    → RIL may run for Bombay Dyeing biz

    → Govt clears 3-yr drilling moratorium for oil explorers

    → RIL files revised gas supply deal in Bombay HC

    → Reliance says no to gas supply contracts beyond 60 mmscmd

    → Reliance Power, RNRL merger ratio fixed at 1:4, deal in line with market rate of stocks




    BP is well worth taking over, despite the risk. If the disaster costs BP $20 billion in damages, this will be paid out over several years, and will be well within the capacity of a company with a net profit of $21 billion in 2009. Even if damages ultimately cost between $40 billion and $50 billion, that will be affordable if spread over five to ten years, which is likely. President Obama has no desire to drive BP into bankruptcy; he wants it to remain viable and pay the damages.


    Buying into BP carries risks, but is justified by the bargain share price. BP trades today at a price-earnings ratio of just 5.1, compared to 13.4 for Exxon-Mobil and 12.56 for Conoco-Philips, its two main US rivals. There remains some uncertainty whether BP will succeed in plugging the Macondo well. It is drilling two relief wells, giving itself two chances to drill into the cursed well and kill it. The technology is well-tested, and should work.

    Reliance is not famous for taking big risks abroad.


    It has long had a rule of thumb: all its projects in India should promise a return of at least 20%, and all foreign ventures should promise at least 30% (to compensate for higher risks abroad). Reliance's great comparative advantage in India has always been its ability to influence government policy, an advantage it lacks abroad. That is one reason why its foreign ventures to date have been so modest. It has gone for small oil exploration projects in Yemen, Iraq, Oman, Colombia and East Timor. It acquired Hoechst's polyester plant in Germany, but that failed and had to be closed. This showed how much more difficult operations were abroad.


    What would Dhirubhai Ambani have done had he been alive? Some regard him as simply a master manipulator, but he was also a visionary. His vision of making telephone calls cheaper than postcards was achieved. His vision of building the largest oil refinery in the world was also achieved. I think Dhirubhai would have gone all out to take over BP. This is the fourth-largest company in the world. Along with Reliance's own sales, a BP takeover would put his company in a strong position to become world number one. That's the sort of goal Dhirubhai would have gone for.

    http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/RIL-should-bid-to-take-over-BP/articleshow/6153447.cms
    Fifa worldcup is CARNIVAL time for MNCs and India Incs which have generated Excellent Mileage in strategic Marketing! But it is something more than Sports and Business. Thus, I may not support the Dutch team fearing Resurgence of apartheid once again. Football reminds us Kieve Dynamo, Great Escape to Victory and the Robben Island. It reminds us, Hitler and his Fascism as well as General Franco and absolute Power.
    Excitement built on Sunday ahead of a mouth-watering climax of Africa's first World Cup and Nelson Mandela's family said he would try to attend, a presence that would cap national joy over a successful tournament.

    As orange and red clad Dutch and Spaniards roamed the streets and converged on the giant Soccer City stadium, Mandela's grandson Mandla told Reuters the much-loved father of post-apartheid South Africa wanted to greet the fans.


    I have been a Fan of Dutch Total Football. Cruef, Gullit, Basten, Riecard, Cluivert, Davids, Overmars have always played very well. But there had been Black and white DIVIDE all the times which seems to be absent in almost White DutchTeam this time. I would have opted for Holland this time as I Never did favour Monopoly in any sphere of life. But the Dutch success is related to apartheid so much so, that I may not dare to indulge myself in the magic of Total football.

    Mandla said Mandela, who is in frail health at the age of 91, would rest before deciding whether he could come for a while to greet fans at the final after a tournament that has boosted national pride and defied predictions of chaos and disaster.

    Mandela, who led South Africa out of apartheid in 1994, missed the June 11 opening ceremony after his great grand-daughter was killed in a car accident the night before.

    On the streets of Johannesburg, hordes of Dutch and Spanish fans tried to out-do each other with songs and the most outlandish outfits as locals gleefully joined the party, painting their faces and wearing the flag of their favorites.

    I did put my stakes on African and Asian teams bypassing the favourite Latin american Argentina and Brazil, our Love, Romance and Passion! But our Asian and African brothers failed to qualify for Semi Finals. Then, the only Latin American team URUGUAY also failed to make it to the Finals. Despite the Devil`s hand in the dying moments of Quarterfinal match which GHANA should have won, URUGUAY played an Excellent Tournament Throughout after making to Semi Finals after Forty years. For me not the European stars, the Latin American FORLANS deserve to have the Gold Ball this time!

    I loved sports and used to play Hockey as well as Football as Striker in my schooldays. I had been Science Addict also at the school level , but I discarded everything Romantic and scientific for my love for Literature and Activism. My friend KRISHNA at my village Basantipur was an all round Sports Personality who had NO Opportunity to shine at any level. He would play any thing! We constituted a Sports Club Naveen Sangha in Basantipur when Krishna returned form Bengal where he had gone to study in Bengali Medium. His father, the President of Basantipur land settlement Committee for lifetime, was against education in any medium other than Mother Tongue. Our village boasted to have run a Bengali school for long time until in late sixties it was made a government school. Unfortunately, Krishna landed in Bengal during Intense Food Crisis in Sixties. Being in Terai, we never felt the bite of Hunger. Krishan stayed with his maternal uncle in kolkata sub urban in Shyam Nagar, who were facing a very Rough time during the Food Movement of sixties.

    Krishna returned Basantipur and despite being senior, he had to be admitted in Class Two once again as  I was reading in Three. But he injected us with his sportsmanship and Club Culture imported from Bengal. basantipur had the first Sports Club in Terai refugee colonies while we were almost infants. Krishan was the President and I was General secretary. We got the Foot Ball from Rudrapur, now the head quarter of Udham Singh Nagar District in Uttarakhand and SIDCUL. But we had no Play Ground. We used the fields after and before harvesting and the Grazing Ground.

    Krishna succumbed to Diabetese two years past. I am also Diabetic. I forgot my medicines today and sabita called on. I assured her that I would take it while I would Return Home after Mid Night and the Final Match would continue then.

    We haven't been able to build on gains in Kashmir: Army chief

    In remarks that appear to be critical of the political leadership, Army Chief V K Singh has said that the prevailing tension in Kashmir was the result of the failure to build on the gains that had been made earlier and suggested that the Army had been called out in Srinagar last week because of "loss of confidence" on the part of the administration.
    The Army Chief also felt that certain other initiatives should also have been taken to improve the situation.
    "So far as the Army is concerned, I think as security forces, a lot of work has been done. The situation has been brought to a particular level when other initiatives should have started to make way for betterment," he said when asked about measures required to check the violence in the valley.
    "The Kashmir situation has been tense for quite some time and the reasons are many. The basic reason being that we have not been able to build on the gains that have been made," Gen Singh told NDTV.
    Elaborating on the steps required, he said, "First of all, there has to be concerted efforts to identify the miscreants... There are few. There are people who are passing instructions on phone. They have to be identified. There are people financing the protests. They must be identified.
    "After that, starts how do we connect with the common man and build confidence in him so that he can stay away from all this. Now this is both an administrative measure as well as it depends on the elected leaders out there at various levels," the Army Chief said.
    "And last but not the least, if you want to impose curfew or something for containing a particular area, it has to be total. You can't have a half-hearted measure," he said.
    Asked whether the Army was deployed as a deterrent to curb the violence, he said, "I think there was a sort of loss of confidence and they thought that Army should be seen more prominently. Probably that is what...
    "We said yes (to the deployment) as we are as much concerned as anyone else...Army is already there. It is already carrying out (operations) with the CRPF, with the police in conjunction with the state. So we are there for various things and we are helping them," he said.
    Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had yesterday said that the Army, which was deployed in certain parts of Srinagar last week to assist the civil administration, may be withdrawn from the streets soon.
    He said the state government was using the Army in the "extreme periphery" and the presence of the force was not more than six or eight columns (600-800 personnel).
    Last month, the Army Chief had voiced his opposition to changes in the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act saying demands for dilution of the Act were being made for "narrow political gains".
    Later, in a damage control exercise, the Army had sought to explain away Gen.Singh's comments by claiming that these had not been "understood in the correct perspective".
    Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has promised amendments to the Act that gives sweeping powers to the Army in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East, to make it more humane. Home Minister P Chidambaram is also known to be in favour of diluting some of the provisions of the Act.

    UK may cut foreign aid to 'rich' India

    London Britain may scale down the 250 million-pound aid given to India annually, saying wealthy local people could do more to help their poor countrymen.
    Andrew Mitchell, the International Development Secretary, signalled that the "250 million pounds of public money spent annually in nuclear armed India could be scaled back."
    He said the rich NRI population of Britain could do more to help their countrymen.
    Besides, the 40 million pounds spent by the Department for International Development (DFID) in Vietnam, now regarded as an Asian "tiger" economy, will be axed.
    It follows the disclosure that development funding to China and Russia would be withdrawn.
    Mitchell told The Sunday Times: "India is more complex and more difficult than China. But this is a (aid) programme I am looking at in detail.


    Economic Times published  a last Page Feature today which made me Nostalgic as we all know the slum Background of our Black Sports Persons and Music Icons very well.

    FIFA World Cup: Vuvuzelas for the homeless

    11 Jul 2010, 0024 hrs IST,Rakhi Mazumdar,ET Bureau

    This evening a new King will be born, a new king of football. South Africa 2010 has gone luckless for many of the favourites. But it doesn't matter. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, France, Italy or Germany can still have a fling at the World Cup—the next one that kicks off in a shade over two months on September 19 at Rio.

    For Brazil where football is religion, a Romario-Rivaldo-Ronaldo-Robinho is made, they say, in the dirt on the streets. Copacabana beach, which is the venue for HWC 2010 may therefore throw up such talents all too casually, talents that are now homeless but by the time Fifa's World Cup 2014 comes along might become superstars themselves with millions in the bank !

    While Brazil therefore will still have a chance to have a fling at the cup and knock out Ukraine the current world champions of 2009, what may be music to the millions of football fans here in India is that the National Tricolour will also fly at Rio this time!

    In a telephone interview from HWC global headquarters at Edinburgh in UK, Katherine Byles, communication director told ET :"This year's competition, will bring together 640 players divided into 64 teams, including 16 national women's teams in competition in the Women's Cup. There is a team from India too."

    Unknown perhaps to many is the fact that Team India had made its debut at this edition of the football world cup atleast 3 years ago. "Each national team at HWC is organised by our national partner. They run national trials, selections and tournaments to select their national team. Team India had made its HWC debut in 2007 at Copenhagen and was ranked 45th. In Melbourne (2008) and Milan (2009), the team had improved its position and is now ranked 39th," she said.

    Nobody in India and nobody from Kolkata, which is reckoned as the Mecca of Indian soccer, has ever played the Fifa World Cup. However, come HWC 2010, Indian probables for the men's squad will be among others—Indrajeet, Akbar Ali and Sumit from Kolkata, Akhilesh Paul from Nagpur, Umesh Deshmukh from Bhandara in Maharashtra, Vicky Irpache from Madhya Pradesh and Noorbasha and Madhi from Chennai. Probables for the women's squad will be Priyanka Ragit from Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, Rubina Sheikh from Chandrapur, Shehnaz Quereshi and Khushaali Darbeshwar from Nagpur, Suryalakshmi and Shakti from Chennai, Trupti Gaidhane from Bhandara and a few more. The Homeless World Cup is, as its name suggests, meant for the homeless of the world. Global data, estimated by Action Aid as far back as 2003, suggested a world population of 78 million, which in 2005 swelled to 100 million.

    http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/the-sunday-et/backpage/FIFA-World-Cup-Vuvuzelas-for-the-homeless/articleshow/6152830.cms

  • The members of Team USA are selected from amongst homeless athletes participating in Street Soccer USA. Street Soccer USA, a branch of Help USA, a national homeless services provider, started in 2005 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, this 16-city network of soccer players helps those who are disconnected from the regular rhythm of life, due to reasons such as addiction, turn their lives around and find support, friendship, and purpose through soccer. Stephanie Johnson, who has now turned her life around and works as a food and beverage manager in Charlotte, North Carolina, joined the team when she had outstayed her welcome at the Salvation Army Women Shelter and was camping out in an abandoned building. At 45 years old Stephanie was not only the oldest player on the team, but one of just three women. Despite never having played soccer, she learned quickly and soon began teaching technique to new team members as well as counseling younger members of the team on how to roll with the punches that life throws.

    The members of Team Mexico are selected from amongst homeless athletes participating in Street Soccer Mexico. Fundacin Telmex, Team Mexicos biggest supporter is collaborating with many organizations that serve vulnerable groups around the country to help organize tournaments and training sessions for the players living in shelters, recovery homes or marginalized communities. More than 30 tournaments are scheduled to take place all over the country before the final team is selected to represent Mexico.

    With over 1,200 players starting at the trial stages, Team England is a force to be reckoned with. This powerhouse of a team is organized by The Big Issue in the North. Rigorous selection and training is provided to this team by Manchester United Football and its Community of coaching staff. Lee Jones, one of the members of team England had the following to say about the tournament, Football gives me strength and if it wasnt for that I dont know what I would have done. It gives you something to look forward to, to strive for. Hostels are draining; you are in with people you dont know and who have all sorts of problems its a terrible life. The Homeless World Cup highlights the fact that we arent all alcoholics who want to be homeless. A lot of homeless people want a chance to get on with life and if it takes football to get that into the average persons brain you have to support it 100 per cent.

    Team Russia was initially organized in 2003 by Put Domoj (Journey Home), a St. Petersburg Street Paper. Four years later, this Russian team won the 2007 Homeless World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa and shined a positive light on the issue of homelessness in Russia. Today, because of this teams efforts the issue of homelessness is discussed openly in the Russian media.

    Some of the other participating countries consist of Argentina, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Nigeria, Palestine, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Uganda, Ukraine and Zambia.

  • BBC's recent report on football's state of affairs has turned up some interesting statistics (that lend themselves to controversial conclusions):

  • Only 2 out of 92 league clubs in England have black managers
  • Less than 1% of senior coaching staff at the 92 league clubs are black – even though more than 20% of players are

Is there really discrimination in football against black people, or is there some other explanation?

The study study also tells us that:

  • Just two of the nine most highly-qualified black coaches in the country – all of whom have better qualifications than Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate – currently have jobs in the league.
  • Since its inception in 1992, there has never been a black English manager in the Premiership – even though about 25% of its players are not white. Jean Tigana managed Fulham and Ruud Gullit was in charge at Chelsea and Newcastle, but there has not been an English black manager in the top flight.

This is understandably a very sensitive subject (not like the 'is Henry is a diver' posts), so I wont say much except that:

1) How many black captains are there in the Premiership? In the whole of 92 clubs?

2) As Gareth Crooks says:

"The view among black footballers used to be that they had to be much better than their white counterparts to get in the team. The same seems to be true of black managers now."

This seems plausible, but without being in the same environment myself I don't think I can comment with any authority on the subject.

What do you guys think?

Sources:

Focus: Football's black mark
Football 'excluding' black bosses


Read more: http://soccerlens.com/is-football-discriminating-against-black-people/1132/#ixzz0tOq8o9MA

It's just the beginning, say proud Uruguayans

Port Elizabeth (South Africa) Uruguay's players heralded a new era for the two-time World Cup winners in the wake of their 3-2 defeat by Germany in the third place match here.

While the result was the same as their clash at the same stage 40 years ago in Mexico, it still represented their best performance at the tournament since their 1970 vintage.

For defender Jorge Fucile their fourth placing was richly deserved - despite their winning the quarter-final against Ghana because Luis Suarez punched the ball off the line in the dying seconds of their match which would have seen the Africans progress 2-1 - and predicted better things to come.

"I am proud of what we have achieved here, we were up to the challenge, among the best four teams," said the 25-year-old Porto fullback.

"However, as we saw against the Germans the difference between us and the historically successful teams is that they have the ice cold temperament and this little bit extra that edges them past sides like us.

"For Uruguay, however, this is the beginning of a new cycle, Uruguay is where it should be. Personally, I am happy of what I have done in the finals, I showed the world who is Fucile," added Fucile, who has garnered three Portuguese titles since he joined from Liverpool Montevideo in 2006.

Hardman midfielder Diego Perez said that there was still room for improvement and two successive 3-2 defeats (the Dutch beat them 3-2 in the semi-finals) left a bitter taste in the mouth.

"It is a strange feeling: Uruguay played well, we scored twice, like against the Netherlands, and we still lost," said the 30-year-old, who plays his club football for French Championship side Monaco.

"However, Uruguay displayed in these two matches that it has made progress, that it can keep the ball and use it, but there are still a few things missing to make us a complete side.

"There is a bitter taste for me that we couldn't offer the country victory in this match but at the same time we have to take the positives out of our campaign, even if we made mistakes that are fatal against stronger teams.

"We leave with our spirits high, proud of the work we have done for the past four years (since coach Oscar Tabarez took over the coaching post), without forgetting that there are regrets."

Perez summed up what the rest of the squad felt about striker Diego Forlan, who took his tally to five goals with one against Germany but whose talsimanic qualities brought much more to the team.

"Forlan? Excellent, he is the symbol of what Uruguay stands for, he fulfilled the tasks that Uruguay was expecting of him."

Forlan, who at 31 is unlikely to play at a third World Cup finals (he also appeared at the 2002 edition), selflessly praised his team-mates and also the outstanding 63-year-old Tabarez.

"This is the result of all the work we put together during the qualifiers which admittedly almost cost us our place here (they had to beat CONCACAF side Costa Rica in a play-off)," said the Villarreal star, who almost forced extra-time against the Germans as his freekick rattled the crossbar in the final action of normal time.

"We were always confident in the work and ideas of 'Maestro' Tabarez. And here at the World Cup we demonstrated that all the hard work got its just desserts."

The players are fervently hoping that Tabarez will sign a new contract and take them onto finals glory in the 2011 Copa America in Argentina.

Tabarez signalled that he ws interested in doing just that, though, he is yet to hold talks with the federation.

"I am nearer to the end of my career than the beginning, but I feel fine physically," said Tabarez, who has also turned his hand to teaching and is nicknamed 'The Professor'.

"It would interest me to continue with Uruguay, but it is not the time to be speaking about that," added Tabarez, unusual among football coaches in rousing his players with literary quotes.

Racism in Brazil's football history

March 7th, 2006 | by: Euler Costa | Comments Comments (10)

Shawn asked me about a racist matter on Brazil's football history and I promised to write a little post about it, but it got bigger than I expected. And there were a lot of interesting details I had to put aside, because otherwise I would be writing a book.

It was 1912 when the most important football clubs of Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo and Fuminense, decided to form a more professional league and allowed other teams to join, as long as there were no black people in their ranks. Vasco, the defending champions with 12 black players in their plantel, refused to join the new league and stayed with the smaller teams. That was such a strong statement that the new league gave up that racist rule on the next year. Vasco was the first of the big teams from Rio to hire black players.


Even after that rule was disregarded, other big teams still wanted to hire only white people, but at the same time they couldn't help noticing some great talents among the black folks. It would be around 1920 when Fluminense hired some black people, but didn't want the team supporters to know about it. The black players had to use makeup (rice powder) on their faces and arms to disguise it. At the end of the matches the powder was running down with the player's sweat, and many people could see that they were using makeup. They started to call the players, the supporters and the team itself "Pó de Arroz" (rice powder). Years have passed and the nickname was disregarded as racist (don't ask me why) and officially adopted by the team. This fact is the most famous about racism in our football history.

It would be only in 1936 that Flamengo would hire his first black player. The guy was so good that everyone else was hunting him. His name was Leonidas da Silva (aka Black Diamond). Flamengo was the final barrier for black players to break and he did it.

The origin of my beloved team's nickname has also a racist origin, but backwards. Many years after the "rice powder" era, Flamengo was the team with most black players, and supporters from all other teams started to call it "Urubu" (American black Vulture). But instead of upsetting the team and its supporters, it became the icon and mascot of the team. Until today I'm proud to be Urubu.

The real bird The mascot
(photo credit) (urubu icon credit)

Nowadays Flamengo is the team of the people here in Brazil, with the biggest number of supporters, a lot of them in the poorer slice of society. Many people don't know about the elitist background of our team witch was originally founded as a rowing club. The rowing division still exists.

Unfortunately we can't say that racism is an issue of the past. Europe have big examples, the latest one I've heard about was Eto's incident. Shame on them!

Here we had some problems too. The Argentinean Leandro Desabato, of Argentine club Quilmes was arrested on charges of using racial slurs against the Brazilian Grafite (Edinaldo Batista Líbano) from São Paulo, after a match for the Copa Libertadores last year.

Soon after that a banana was thrown (port.) at him by a Brazilian supporter before a Selection game in São Paulo. It was written at the fruit "Grafite Monkey".

Last weekend Juventude defender Antonio Carlos rubbed his fingers over his arm in an obvious racist manner referring to Gremio's midfielder Jeovaneo after being expelled from the game after a dangerous foul. Antonio will be facing trial and, hopefully, he will be arrested. Racism has to be punished in order to end. First Antonio denied, but after seeing the images on TV he apologized. Jeovaneo already said that he won't forgive him. He was devastated saying that both involved have children and also that mature adults just can't act like that anymore.

Well, it seems that I already wrote a lot about this issue. I would love to read people's opinions about racism in Europe where entire groups of fans are carrying the anti-Semitism ideals to the stadiums without any punishments and also about racism in other countries.

Images of Real Madrid against racism:

Zizou against racisma All united against racism
Ebony and Ivory Roberto against racism
(images credits)

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मैं नास्तिक क्यों हूं# Necessity of Atheism#!Genetics Bharat Teertha

হে মোর চিত্ত, Prey for Humanity!

मनुस्मृति नस्ली राजकाज राजनीति में OBC Trump Card और जयभीम कामरेड

Gorkhaland again?আত্মঘাতী বাঙালি আবার বিভাজন বিপর্যয়ের মুখোমুখি!

हिंदुत्व की राजनीति का मुकाबला हिंदुत्व की राजनीति से नहीं किया जा सकता।

In conversation with Palash Biswas

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Save the Universities!

RSS might replace Gandhi with Ambedkar on currency notes!

जैसे जर्मनी में सिर्फ हिटलर को बोलने की आजादी थी,आज सिर्फ मंकी बातों की आजादी है।

#BEEFGATEঅন্ধকার বৃত্তান্তঃ হত্যার রাজনীতি

अलविदा पत्रकारिता,अब कोई प्रतिक्रिया नहीं! पलाश विश्वास

ভালোবাসার মুখ,প্রতিবাদের মুখ মন্দাক্রান্তার পাশে আছি,যে মেয়েটি আজও লিখতে পারছেঃ আমাক ধর্ষণ করবে?

Palash Biswas on BAMCEF UNIFICATION!

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS ON NEPALI SENTIMENT, GORKHALAND, KUMAON AND GARHWAL ETC.and BAMCEF UNIFICATION! Published on Mar 19, 2013 The Himalayan Voice Cambridge, Massachusetts United States of America

BAMCEF UNIFICATION CONFERENCE 7

Published on 10 Mar 2013 ALL INDIA BAMCEF UNIFICATION CONFERENCE HELD AT Dr.B. R. AMBEDKAR BHAVAN,DADAR,MUMBAI ON 2ND AND 3RD MARCH 2013. Mr.PALASH BISWAS (JOURNALIST -KOLKATA) DELIVERING HER SPEECH. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLL-n6MrcoM http://youtu.be/oLL-n6MrcoM

Imminent Massive earthquake in the Himalayas

Palash Biswas on Citizenship Amendment Act

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http://youtu.be/NrcmNEjaN8c The government of India has announced food security program ahead of elections in 2014. We discussed the issue with Palash Biswas in Kolkata today. http://youtu.be/NrcmNEjaN8c Ahead of Elections, India's Cabinet Approves Food Security Program ______________________________________________________ By JIM YARDLEY http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/indias-cabinet-passes-food-security-law/

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THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS LASHES OUT KATHMANDU INT'L 'MULVASI' CONFERENCE

अहिले भर्खर कोलकता भारतमा हामीले पलाश विश्वाससंग काठमाडौँमा आज भै रहेको अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय मूलवासी सम्मेलनको बारेमा कुराकानी गर्यौ । उहाले भन्नु भयो सो सम्मेलन 'नेपालको आदिवासी जनजातिहरुको आन्दोलनलाई कम्जोर बनाउने षडयन्त्र हो।' http://youtu.be/j8GXlmSBbbk

THE HIMALAYAN DISASTER: TRANSNATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT MECHANISM A MUST

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THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS CRITICAL OF BAMCEF LEADERSHIP

[Palash Biswas, one of the BAMCEF leaders and editors for Indian Express spoke to us from Kolkata today and criticized BAMCEF leadership in New Delhi, which according to him, is messing up with Nepalese indigenous peoples also. He also flayed MP Jay Narayan Prasad Nishad, who recently offered a Puja in his New Delhi home for Narendra Modi's victory in 2014.]

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS CRITICIZES GOVT FOR WORLD`S BIGGEST BLACK OUT

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Palash Biswas, lashed out those 1% people in the government in New Delhi for failure of delivery and creating hosts of problems everywhere in South Asia. http://youtu.be/lD2_V7CB2Is

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अहिले भर्खर कोलकता भारतमा हामीले पलाश विश्वाससंग काठमाडौँमा आज भै रहेको अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय मूलवासी सम्मेलनको बारेमा कुराकानी गर्यौ । उहाले भन्नु भयो सो सम्मेलन 'नेपालको आदिवासी जनजातिहरुको आन्दोलनलाई कम्जोर बनाउने षडयन्त्र हो।' http://youtu.be/j8GXlmSBbbk