General Information

The Homeless World Cup is an international pilot-project that uses the positive power of football for raising the profile of the issue of homelessness and poverty worldwide. Social integration through sport has become a successful strategy in many countries. The unifying passion for football has a unique ability to shift social borders. Being backed by job-, housing- and integration programmes thus sport itself becomes the means to create new chances for persons in crisis situations.

The Homeless World Cup took place so far 2003 in Graz/Austria, 2004 in Gothenburg/Sweden, 2005 in Edinburgh/Scotland. The participating teams of more than 30 countries made all Homeless World Cups a tremendous success. More than 100 000 spectators were attracted, the atmosphere was filled with camaraderie between the teams thus playing with competetive spirit thrilling matches. More than 100 accredited journalists and 25 TV stations each year made the World Cup also a major media event.
Main partners of the Homeless World Cup are the International Network of Streetpapers, INSP, the UNO and UEFA.
For more information see: www.streetsoccer.org

Who can take part?

National teams consist of a staff of maximum 8 players and 2 coaches.

Organisations:

- streetpapers or any other organisation, that builds a team of players according to the players definition.

Players

, who
- are male or female and at least 16 years old (must have turned 16 before 01.09.2006) and
- are or have been homeless at some point after the Homeless World Cup 2005 (01.08.2005)(in accordance with the national definition of homelessness) or
- make their main living income as streetpaper vendor or
- are asylum seekers (who have neither positive asylum status nor working permit) or
- are currently in drug or alcohol rehabilitation and have been homeless at some point in the past two years (post 01.08.2004)
- have taken part only one time in a previous Homeless World Cup.

Please make sure that these definitions really apply to your players as the Homeless World Cup must be very strict on this definition.
The Homeless World Cup is a game - but it is most of all about sharing a week of international friendship dedicated to the issue of finding solutions to homelessness and poverty.

Who organises the Homeless World Cup?

The HWC is organized by the Homeless World Cup Office in Edinburgh/Scotland in cooperation with the countries, which host the Homeless World Cup.

What offers the Homeless World Cup to teams?

- The Homeless World Cup takes care of the international sponsoring
and finances all teams costs for a 10 person staff (8 players / 2 coaches) in the World Cup host country (accommodation, food, transport in host country)
- Sponsoring: The Homeless World Cup Office supports team sponsoring efforts with materials (printed materials, press reviews)
- Visa: If necessary the Homeless World Cup Office assists in visa questions. As past years experiences show only players with valid passports will be able to take part.

What have teams to take care for?

- Budget: Teams have to raise their own budget for preparations, equippement and the travel to the Homeless World Cup host country.
- Responsibility: Teams have full responsibility for fullfilling the players definition.
- Insurance: All team members must have a valid health insurance in the host country. The Homeless World Cup Office offers assistance in finding solutions to this.

 

The rules that the player in the Homeless Word Cup must comply with

The rules of the Homeless World Cup

Organisations:

- streetpapers or any other organisation, that builds a team of players according to the players definition.

Players
 who
- are male or female and at least 16 years old (must have turned 16 before 01.09.2006) and
- are or have been homeless at some point after the Homeless World Cup 2005 (01.08.2005)(in accordance with the national definition of homelessness) or
- make their main living income as streetpaper vendor or
- are asylum seekers (who have neither positive asylum status nor working permit) or
- are currently in drug or alcohol rehabilitation and have been homeless at some point in the past two years (post 01.08.2004)
- have taken part only one time in a previous Homeless World Cup.

National Qualifications

If there is more than one team from a particular country applying for the participation in the Homeless World Cup:

- by virtue of the teams’ agreement, they can select from among their players the ones who will constitute the national team

- the country is obliged to hold the national qualifications or the process of selecting the players

The organizer of the national qualifications or selection is the organization that was responsible for building the national team for the previous Homeless World Cup.

                                                                The rules of the Homeless Word Cup

1. Participants

Teams can consist of:

- male players exclusively

- female players exclusively

- both male and female players (mixed teams)

A maximum number of 4 players is allowed on the pitch:

- one goal keeper

- 3 other players (forward, backs…)

- plus 4 reserve players (a smooth exchange of players)

The number of players in each team cannot exceed 8.

The names of the players must be provided before the beginning of the tournament

2. The duration of one match

2 x 7 including changing sides

3. The start

A match starts the moment the referee throws the ball into the pitch. The team that has scored a goal gets hold of the ball and the goal keeper has the right to catch it when he hears the referee’s whistle.

4. Goal keeper’s rules

a) the goal keeper is not allowed to score goals

b) he must stay within the penalty area

c) he is not allowed to hold up the ball within the penalty area longer than it’s necessary, a so called play for time

d) he is not allowed to touch the ball when he takes a kick back from the player of his own team. If he does so, the other team gets a penalty.

5. The rules of penalty area

a) neither the players from the attacking team, nor the ones from the team defending itself are allowed to enter the penalty area

b) if a player from the team defending itself enters the penalty area, the other team gets a penalty kick

c) if a player from the attacking team enters the penalty area, the other team gets a free kick

6. The rules concerning penalties

The opposite team is penalised in the following situations:

a) when a player of the team defending itself crosses the penalty area

b) when a team kicks back directly to their goal keeper three times in a row in order to play for time (otherwise the player from the attacking team could touch the ball)

c) when the goal keeper holds up the ball within his penalty area longer than it’s necessary (play for time)

d) when the goal keeper catches the ball taking the kick back from the player of his own team

e) the team can earn penalty points due to the fouls before the goal

7. The rules of free kicks and outs

a) all the free kicks must be done indirectly. All the players from the opposite team are required to stand within at least 2 metres from the ball

The referee decides on free kicks in the following situations:

a) in every case of a foul, apart from punishable attacks

b) if the ball is out, it must be rolled back into the pitch by hand the same way it has left the pitch. All the players must stand within 2 metres from the ball then.

c) if the ball is out on the side of the goals:

- due to the attacking team: the goal keeper gets the ball, and kicks or throws it back

- due to the defending team: the attacking team gets a corner and rolls the ball by hand. All the players from the opposite team are to stand within at least 2 metres from the corner

8. Fouls

The referee can take the following decisions in case of a team’s not playing fair or its frequent fouls:

a) a blue card (2-minute exclusion). A player who does not comply with the rules can be excluded from the game for 2 minutes, in which case the team has to cope themselves without one player. The goals scored by the opposite team do not exempt the player from the penalty before that time.

b) a red card (the penalty of the match). When a player disregards the rules or commits violent fouls, he is excluded from the remaining part of the match. In this case, the team must play without one player until the end of the match. The participant who has received a red card is also not allowed to take part in the following match.

The team’s exclusion from the tournament:

If the rules are flagrantly disregarded (violent, deliberate fouls, unacceptable behaviour on the pitch towards the referees, spectators or other players), such a player or all the players may be then excluded from the tournament.

If the whole team is excluded from the championships, all their matches that have already been played or the ones planned for them are exchanged for 0:3.

9. Points in the tournament

The team that has won the match gets 3 points, the one that has lost, gets no points. If a match ends in a draw, it is decided by penalty shootout until one team leads with one goal difference. In this case, the team that has won gets 3 points and the one that has lost - 1 point.

10. Group criteria

a) points

b) the goal difference (the goals scored and received)

c) the number of goals scored

d) a direct match

    *  Goals scored in penalty shoot-outs do not count for goal difference

 The Homeless world Cup  -  proportions

The size of the pitch: 20m long    x   14m wide

The size of the goal: 4m b  x   1,30m  high, about 1m deep

Green area: a semicircle (4-metre radius), green surface

Height of boards: 1,10 m
Net: the height – 3 metres between and behind both goal-sides

Surface: stone or concrete (flat surface)

Referee: a high chair for the referee outside the pitch (as it is in tennis)

Place for the players: two benches located at the long side of the pitch

Entrance for the players: 2 separate entrances at the long side of the pitch

Size of the ball: size 5