"Football means everything to me and gives me strength”
|Russia won the Homeless World Cup in Cape Town in 2006.
Russia's Vjacheslav Shelaevskjj looks forward to raising awareness of the problem of homelessness in Russia through the Homeless World Cup. The 27-year-old lives in St. Petersburg and will represent Russia as a midfielder in Cape Town.
"I have been playing football since I was 5 years old. That was my greatest passion and I always had a ball with me. Once, my parents were searching for me in the evening and found me asleep with a ball on the field.
"Football means everything to me and gives me strength. Unfortunately, I failed to become a professional footballer. I am from Arkhangelsk (in far North-West Russia), from a small village where you have no chance of finding a job and many young people just drink.
"Last year, I moved to St. Petersburg in search of a job and a better living.
"Football is a very good way to help people and it is always a celebration that lifts People’s spirit."
"I have been trying to find a job but it is very hard without a registration. So I am working in day-to-day jobs. I have no residence permit in St. Petersburg and cannot get one. That is very difficult.”
Although laws around the residence permit in Russia have been loosened in recent years and discrimination on the basis of residence status is now illegal, the permit is virtually impossible to obtain for homeless people. Life without a residence permit is difficult in practice and excludes the unregistered person from most areas of public life as well as formal employment and social services, and this contributes to a vicious cycle of homelessness and unemployment.
"So I am living a life on the edge with lots of difficulties. Last winter I broke my arm and could not work. Only with the help of the 'New Social Solutions' project could I survive and get a place to stay. I originally found them because I heard about the Homeless World Cup in a newspaper and I hoped that the football program would help me.” he continues.
"I met with Arkady [organiser of the Russian team] and started to train as part of his project. The 'New Social Solutions' organisation has helped me a lot; giving me a place to stay and giving me support in life."
Vjacheslav hopes that the Homeless World Cup can provide him with a platform to raise awareness of the particular difficulties of homelessness in Russia. "The Homeless World Cup is a big hope and a big chance for me, for my personal motivation and also to raise awareness for the registration problem in Russia.
"Football is a very good way to help people and it is always a celebration that lifts the spirit of people. I hope all players at the Homeless World Cup find the right values in life, motivation and hope."