Bosnia's homeless football team departs for tournament in Bulgaria

Bosnia's homeless football team, organized by MFS-EMMAUS, left today for an international tournament in Bulgaria as part of the final gathering before the Homeless World Cup 2016, which will be held this year from July 10 to 16 in Glasgow, and which is also the final test for the players and an opportunity to build team cohesion. The tournament is being held in Sofia and lasts until Sunday, reports Bosnia's news agency Patria.

After winning a historic silver medal at the Homeless World Cup in Chile, the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team began preparations for the Homeless World Cup 2016 back in April this year. The best result of the BiH team so far is second place at the World Cup in Chile in 2014.

The rule for all teams is to change the entire squad each year, and this year BiH will be represented by Asmir Mehić, Danijel Kolanović, Eldin Baraković, Mehmed Baščelić, Jovan Malinović, Sejfo Beganović, Sefer Halilović and Esmin Mehanović.

- We are going to Bulgaria and this is the final check of our team's readiness. The atmosphere among the players is excellent. They see their participation in this project as an opportunity. They want to prove themselves, and they want to give their maximum to justify the trust placed in them, and to bring honor to the team and all of BiH at this tournament, as well as at the World Cup in Scotland - said Elmedin Škrebo, project manager of EMMAUS and leader of the BiH homeless team project.

The BiH team holds a high 7th place on the ranking list, which places it in the first pot before the draw of participating countries for the World Cup in July this year.

The International Solidarity Forum EMMAUS is the founder of the team. The name "homeless team" is not a metaphor; these are young people from vulnerable and disadvantaged categories of society - the homeless, displaced persons, children without parental care, users of collective shelters, minorities and other socially excluded and marginalized categories. In this way, an attempt is made to draw attention to their problems and give them the opportunity to enjoy themselves, even briefly, and not think about the situation they are in. Often, thanks to the positive influence of the project, they completely escape the bad situation they are in, find employment or continue interrupted education.

This year, 48 men's and 16 women's teams will participate in the World Cup in Glasgow. It will be the 14th World Cup in a row, and for the BiH team, the 5th consecutive participation.

Support for MFS-EMMAUS in the implementation of the Homeless Team project so far has been provided by: the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Tuzla Canton, the Mayor of Doboj Obren Petrović, the Mayor of Gračanica Nusret Helić, the Football Association of BiH, NK Široki Brijeg, and others. We especially highlight the support of BiH national team player and Everton footballer Muhamed Bešić, who is also the official ambassador of MFS-EMMAUS.