HUNGARY FOR SUCCESS
Credit: Donnie Nicholson
For Hungary team player (Attaie Ahmed) Seyar, it was a journey of more than two years to reach the 2023 Homeless World Cup in Sacramento this summer.
Back in 2021 Seyar and his family were living in Afghanistan when war with the Taliban forced them to flee.
“First of all, everything was all right. We had a happy life there [in Afghanistan], but then this war started. My dad used to work for the Afghanistan embassy but then there was no work, so we had to leave our country to stay alive ... it was very dangerous.”
Seyar, then aged 16 and the eldest of five children, fled with his siblings, mother and father. The family left their life, family members, friends and many possessions behind as they travelled, under a special visa scheme, over 4,000 kilometres to start a new life in Hungary.
They were housed in a refugee camp with, at the start, all seven family members living in a container.
“It wasn’t good. We felt like we were kind of in a prison. In those days, [due to the Covid-19 pandemic], we could not leave the container for two weeks. After that the camp gave us a card, which let us leave [the camp].”
After two weeks, Seyar and his family transferred to another refugee camp, around 400 kilometres away from the first, where they stayed for a further six weeks.
There Seyar had more freedom and he started to play football again.
“Ever since I was a kid, I loved playing football, loved soccer, and I wanted to continue,” he recalls.
He kept playing in the camp which, in turn, helped him make new friends - proof that football really can be a universal language that brings people together.
“Lots of things happened back in Afghanistan for me. Lots of bad memories, bad things. So when I arrived in Hungary, I tried to forget everything and start a new journey with my family and forget the losses.
“I started to be a new man, a new personality, and that’s helped me to start playing football again. A fresh start, a new journey for my life. I wanted to start from zero again, and [now] it’s much better for me ... it has opened a new chapter.”
The Hungarian players were able to participate in the Homeless World Cup thanks to work by the Oltalom Sports Association, an organisation that gives disadvantaged and homeless people the opportunity to participate in sports and social activities. Their programme includes regular training sessions, which is how Seyar found his team.
After leaving the second refugee camp, Seyar and his family moved to Budapest where they now share a house, and he now feels like Hungary is his home. On returning from the tournament, he’s looking forward to going back to school.
“First I found the team; then I found school and started to continue my education,” he enthuses, citing his favourite subject as biology with a goal of becoming a doctor.
Seyar has now settled into life in Hungary and sees a bright future ahead of him; a far cry from two years ago when he was displaced from his home and forced to abandon his life in Afghanistan.
His Hungary teammate - goalkeeper (Hussiain Said) Mahdi - who has been acting as his translator, joins him as they laugh and pose for photographs beneath a cloudless Californian sky.
The two young men clearly have a strong bond and respect for each other as Mahdi adds, “Seyar is a very fun person. In our team we say, ‘if he’s not here, there's no good mood ... when it comes to fun, he’s at the boss level.”
Credit: Donnie Nicholson and Anita Milas
Words: Alix Gunn