Austria

Initiative Goal work in partnership with organisations across Austria to build a network of social street football projects. Their aim is to promote social inclusion through sport.

They offer support for people who are experiencing homelessness, or have done so in the past year. They also reach out for street vendors, asylum seekers, refugees and people affected by substance abuse.

Their men’s/mixed team is coached by Gilbert Prilasnig, former Austrian International, while their women’s team is coached by Emily Cancienne,  who represented Sturm Graz in the Austrian League, and UEFA women’s champions league.

According to country’s Social Ministry, there were 15,090 people registered as homeless in Austria as of 2016. This is up from 12,050 in 2014. This number does not include rough sleepers who are not registered. Around 70% of all people experiencing homelessness live in Vienna.

There is also a major crisis in refugee accommodation currently in Austria. In 2015, approximately 85,000 refugees asked for protection. In 2016, 22,000 asylum seekers were still being housed in the Federal Care Scheme. Statistics show that 80% of refugees leaving the Federal Care Scheme (Bundesbetreuung) are at risk of ending up homeless, according to FEANTSA, 2017.