Integrating refugees through sport in Switzerland

Paolo Rebozzi provides an insight into how PCi Camorino uses football to promote understanding and cooperation between different groups in Switzerland’s Italian speaking region.

The PCi Camorino soccer project (www.sdplanet.org) is a local people’s initiative that started in June 2016. We thought that soccer could help solve some social problems related to the recent inflow of refugees in the Ticino territory, Switzerland.

Our main goal was to bridge the gap between immigrants and the local population; to allow them to meet and interact by doing something they both enjoy; for the refugees to appreciate the local culture and customs; for the local population to sympathise with refugees’ sociopolitical condition.

With the team being so diverse in term of nationality and age, I believed that if players could cooperate to work toward a common goal, and respect each other despite different cultures and languages, it could also help them to integrate into the local community, which is all new and diverse to them. We strived during training and matches to instil values, such as humbleness, mutual respect, discipline and mutual cooperation.

After a month of training, the team began playing matches with local football clubs. They played wearing the old uniform of the FC Camorino, which is the club of the town where most of them reside. I wanted them to wear that uniform to honour the town that hosted them, but also because in my opinion that would increase the level of empathy of the local population toward their sociopolitical condition.

We did not have specific M&E tools to measure performance and goals. However, although I could not measure the achievements, I could observe some of the successes of the project. For example, we did not have any funds, all the material has been recycled, donated by the local population and clubs, and as we moved along more and more people and clubs donated material, offered meals, and gave us positive feedback. That for me was a positive outcome of project. Not only that but several clubs (US Giubiasco, FC Camorino, AC Ravecchia) have decided to take some of our players into their clubs to allow them to train and play soccer, but also to offer a greater chance to integrate and to offer local players the chance to know refugees better.

The behaviour of refugees had also improved toward local culture and people. They felt more at ease around locals and more self-confident although language difference has been a major barrier so far.