FIFPRO Fair Play Award Day 2: An opportunity to see the ‘teamness’
| Northern Ireland win the FIFPRO Fair Play Award on day two in Cardiff. Image: Mile44
At the Homeless World Cup, we look to make sure that acts of sportsmanship and fair play don’t go unrecognised. It may only be Day 3 of the Homeless World Cup in Cardiff, but we have already witnessed countless acts of kindness and camaraderie. Today’s FIFPRO Fair Play Award winners Northern Ireland have perfectly illustrated that.
Northern Ireland men’s coach Adrian Curry explains ‘we won the fair play award yesterday because we put our foot off the gas against Israel a bit, because we realised we were winning with quite a few goals. So we just tried to give Israel that extra boost, which we all need sometimes. For all of us that is what street soccer is all about, that is what the Homeless World Cup is all about: just being there for people from all over the world and doing fair play.’
Among a beaming team, Curry proudly explains how months of hard work have just been acknowledged through winning the award: ‘We have been working on team building over the past two months of training, in the lead-up to the Homeless World Cup. The fair play award is so important because it’s an opportunity to see the “teamness” and the hard work appreciated’.
The award was presented by former professional player and Equality Education Executive at the PFA Jason Lee; and former professional player and Community Equalities Executive at the PFA, Terry Angus.
Words: Deborah May
Images: Mile 44