SACRAMENTO 2023 HOMELESS WORLD CUP: FIFPRO FAIR PLAY AWARDS (DAY 7)
Credit: Dan Higginson
On Friday evening, the penultimate day of the 2023 Homeless World Cup, the sixth FIFPRO Fair Play Award was awarded to Team Australia. MC for Sacramento Republic FC, Connor Sutton, heartily congratulated the team as he presented the award.
Team Australia continue to show genuine enjoyment of the games and their love and laughter are a joy to witness. From day one, they have looked out for their opponents and truly put the ‘fair’ into fair play.
Coach George Halkias mentions that fair play is one of the underlying philosophies of the team’s programme and the country’s culture, “so really we’re just celebrating those and putting them on show for the rest of the world.”
This award was not the only festivity of the day for Team Australia; player Oliver Greenhalgh is celebrating both a birthday and taking on the role of captain for the day’s games. Fans in the stands, referees, and opponents from Team South Korea were in good voice to duly serenade him after the match.
Though Australia took a loss to South Korea, Halkias asserts that, “What you experience here is what you experience in life; so it’s really about what you learn from those emotions, the skills and strategies, the resilience you develop and take back after the event.”
The Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballeurs Professionnels (International Federation of Footballers), widely known as FIFPRO, is the world’s footballer’s union, representing around 65,000 professional footballers worldwide and the organisation has been a key supporter of the Homeless World Cup Foundation since 2015. FIFPRO sponsor a daily Fair Play Award at the Homeless World Cup each year.
The Homeless World Cup is, of course, a football competition; however, the values and ethos go beyond winning trophies. At its heart the tournament’s goal is to create a global community of players who feel included in society. The daily FIFPRO Fair Play Awards build on these ideals of the tournament. The awards are presented to teams and individuals who have demonstrated the values of fair play, respect and sportsmanship.
Credit: Dan Higginson
Words: Haley Lucero