Lithuania

FK Feniksas (FC Phoenix) uses the power of football to help people who suffer from substance abuse integrate back into society. Most of their participants are men in alcohol rehabilitation.

They select the players for the Lithuanian Homeless World Cup Team, organise regular training sessions (2-3 times per week) and tournaments, and take part in various international events.

They first took part in the Homeless World Cup in 2006, in Cape Town, South Africa.

Number of nationwide homeless people recorded in 2015 (FEANTSA, 2016)

Lithuania was one of the hardest hit European countries following the 2008 financial crisis, leading to a significant rise in poverty (Borgen, 2017). In 2015 it was found that Lithuania had one of the highest rates of alcoholism in the world, with 10% of the population suffering from an alcohol abuse disorder (Borgen, 2017).

Many homeless people do not fit criteria to be provided shelters since those with tuberculosis or mental illnesses, as well as those who are intoxicated, are not accepted. This often leads to people freezing to death in winter (EOH, 2014).