Having worked with the The Big Issue and the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup for some time now, Melbourne Victory today announced an official partnership, ahead of the official launch of the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup on Monday, 1 December.
Having worked with the The Big Issue and the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup for some time now, Melbourne Victory today announced an official partnership, ahead of the official launch of the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup on Monday, 1 December.
Victory has worked with The Big Issue-s Community Street Soccer Program and the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup on a range of levels, as well as recently welcoming representatives from the Australian and Scotland Homeless World Cup teams to training sessions ahead of the tournament.
Victory CEO Geoff Miles said the club was very happy to align itself with The Big Issue and the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup and to formalise the relationship.
“Melbourne Victory is proud to participate in the development of community football through The Big Issue-s Community Street Soccer Program and the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup,” Miles said.
“Our players and coaching staff have had a fantastic opportunity to work with the Victorian street soccer players and the Australian Street Socceroos and continue the club-s extensive work throughout the community.
“The Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup will be a terrific event for our city and another way to highlight how sport, in this case football, can make a powerful difference to people-s lives.”
“We wish our Australian team and all visiting teams the best of luck for a great tournament,” Miles said.
Victory Captain and ambassador of the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup Kevin Muscat, along with Evan Berger, Leigh Broxham and Mitchell Langerak will attend the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup this Wednesday, 3 December, with some of the boys providing guest match commentary.
Coach Ernie Merrick and Grant Brebner also welcomed the Scotland Homeless World Cup team to Olympic Park Stadium earlier this week, giving the players some final words of encouragement before they attempt to defend their Homeless World Cup title from last year.
The Homeless World Cup is an annual international football tournament which unites teams of homeless and marginalised people from around the world and demonstrates the power of sport to change lives.
Steven Persson, Executive Director of the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup and CEO of The Big Issue Australia said he was delighted to have the support of Melbourne Victory.
“It-s great to have the backing and support of our hometown club. We look forward to working with Victory during the Homeless World Cup and beyond, to extend the benefits of sport as a means of social inclusion to more and more people”.
The Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup runs from Monday, 1 December to Sunday, 7 December at Federation Square and Birrarung Marr. Matches run from 11am to 7pm daily. For more information visit www.homelessworldcup.org.
