Sport and refugees weekly: 25 July 2021
Refugee athletes host Olympian and Paralympian Online Experiences (IPC)
Fans can now sign up for a unique opportunity to support and connect with Refugee Olympian, Paralympian and Scholarship holder athletes, supported by a partnership between Airbnb, the IOC and IPC. The Online Experiences will allow fans to hear about refugee athletes’ journeys and hear more of their life experiences. By participating in these Online Experiences, refugee athletes are also able to earn money, providing them with financial stability.
IOC Session welcomes Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020 (IOC)
On 20 July, members of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team were welcome by the IOC Session. Yiech Pur Biel, the athlete representative, addressed IOC members on behalf of the team. He told the IOC how excited the athletes were, and how they appreciated this opportunity extended by the IOC. 29 athletes form the Refugee Olympic Team for the Tokyo Games, competing across 12 sports and coming from 13 host National Olympic Committees.
IOC Refugee Olympic Team travelling to Tokyo (IOC)
26 athletes, 16 coaches and 10 officials arrived in Japan, as part of the Refugee Olympic Team for Tokyo 2020. Badminton player Aram Mahmoud relayed his excitement about finally being able to make it to the Games, despite the delay and the pandemic.
Somali refugees find solace in futsal, hope to pursue big dreams (Daily Monitor)
While playing for a league team in Uganda is a rite of passage for many youth, it is a difficult feat for refugees. Somali refugees in Uganda are unsure if they will ever get the chance to represent their national football teams, due to their refugee status. The global pandemic has made things even more uncertain, given that games have been suspended many times.
Refugee athletes torch of inspiration at Olympics (The Daily Star)
56 refugee athletes were given a solidarity scholarship by the IOC, 29 of which have been selected to compete at Tokyo under the Olympic flag. Two women who have fought against everything to be a part of this team are Masomah Ali Zada, an Afghan refugee who is a road cyclist, and Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, a South Sudanese refugee who is a track and field champion.
Swimmer Abbas Karimi reflects on representing refugees at the Paralympics in Tokyo (wbur)
Abbas Karimi has been training his whole life for the upcoming Paralympic Games. Born without arms, he fled Afghanistan at the age of 16, living in various refugee camps before making it to the US, where he started to swim competitively. When he fled Afghanistan, he hadn’t started swimming yet – now, the 24 year old is a Paralympian.
Qatar Olympic body to host refugee Olympians at camp (Doha News)
The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) hosted a camp for the Refugee Olympic Team participating in the upcoming Tokyo Games. The camp is part of Qatar’s global support for refugees, and is a reflection of a partnership between the QOC, the IOC and the UNHCR. Qatar, along with Rwanda, also is a pre-Games vaccination hub for all Olympic and Paralympic Games athletes who have not received their COVID-19 vaccines.
‘Where is the humanity?’ (SCMP)
Virginie Goethals is the co-founder of RUN, a Hong Kong based refugee charity which helps victims of sexual violence and torture recover via sport. Since starting in 2014, they’ve grown from a small initiative to a nationwide movement. Read her story, and how she got to where she is.
Refugee Olympic Team on a mission to storm the medal party in Japan (China.org)
Over 11,000 athletes will be featured in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, 29 of which are competing under the Refugee Olympic Team banner. Tegla Loroupe, the former world women marathon record holder, is the Chef de Mission of the Refugee Olympic Team. Four runners in the Team are from the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation, and have been trained by Loroupe.
The 13 and under team for Genesis Football Club are in Blaine, Minnesota, for the Target USA soccer tournament. The tournament hosts teams from all over the country and players from across the world. The Genesis team itself is composed of children whose families came from Somalia, Liberia, Burundi, Tanzania, Spain and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their coach, Sam Gabriel, also moved to Iowa as a refugee from Liberia.
Rohingya United: The football team bringing together refugees (Guardian)
Rafique Mohammed established Rohingya United, a football club, in Brisbane in 2016. A Rohingya refugee himself, he wanted to extend the opportunity of playing football to others from his community who had resettled in Australia. Eventually, the team got so big, he created a second one, called QR The Brave. Both teams play in the Q-League, a Queensland-based multicultural competition offering migrants and refugees to play football without huge registration fees, which often hinder their participation.
Displace to Denmark, Afghan refugee football star Nadia Nadim rose to glory (The Bridge)
Paris Saint-Germain’s footballer Nadia Nadim grew up in war-torn Herat, Afghanistan, and fled her homeland after her father was killed by the Taliban. After resettling in Denmark, Nadim found success as a footballer, a game she used to play with her father and sisters in their courtyard, behind the eyes of the Taliban.
This information has been compiled by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
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