HFCA are honoured to announce that they will be sending a team to represent Cambodia at the 19th Homeless World Cup to be hosted in Seoul, Korea from the 21st to 28th of September 2024. Joining 48 other nations this will be the 12th time HFCA (Happy Football Cambodia Australia) has coordinated the Cambodian team for this life changing football tournament.
HFCA have selected eight youth to represent Cambodia with the three players from Siem Reap province being Samey Sao (aged 28), Pheak Porn (aged 25) and Nivath Veng (aged 23). Phanna Phorn is from Prey Veng (aged 23) and Po Oem from Kampot (aged 24). These five players were all selected to join the 2020 event in Finland which was cancelled due to Covid-19. The final three players are Thonet Soam (aged 17) from Svay Rieng, Sokarn Sen (aged 19) from Kandal and Makara Phun (aged 18) from Prey Veng. Five of the eight players are from HFCA’s NGO partner Cambodian Children’s Fund with the other three from HFCA’s NGO partner Build your Future Today.
The youngest player is 17 and the oldest 28 with an average age of 22 and Cambodia will be coached by manager Sovatha Long who represented Cambodia as a player at the 2017 Homeless World Cup in Oslo, Norway. The Cambodian team will play a total of 13 matches over 8 days in a fast paced 4 a side format with games running for 14 minutes each.
“CCF has long supported the HFCA and Paraic. The highlight of the relationship is the Homeless World Cup, where young players are able to travel to the host country and play against their counterparts from different parts of the world. It’s a wonderful shared experience. Without exception, it has had an impact on those who attended”
Scott Neeson, Founder Cambodian Children’s Fund
“HFCA is very happy to be rejoining the Homeless World Cup after last attending in 2019. It’s especially satisfying for HFCA that five of the eight players that missed out on Finland 2020 are finally getting their chance to showcase their football talents on the world stage in Korea”
Paraic Grogan, Founder HFCA
About HFCA
Created in 2005, HFCA (Happy Football Cambodia Australia) is an NGO aimed at empowering underprivileged youth in Cambodia through the medium of football. HFCA ensures that underprivileged youth get access to high quality training, team building and mobility opportunities. This supports wellbeing, mental health, self-esteem and crucially provides pathways into further opportunities by developing soft skills for success in education and employment.
About Homeless World Cup
The first HWC (Homeless World Cup) took place in 2003 in Graz, Austria and the upcoming Homeless World Cup will be the 19th edition of this annual event (suspended for 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to Covid-19). With 70 nations having HWC membership, including Cambodia, the 2024 Homeless World Cup will be hosted in Asia for the first time ever. An estimated 100 million people are homeless worldwide. As many as 1 billion people lack adequate housing. The characteristics and causes of homelessness around the world are complex and varied. Homeless people experience social exclusion and stigmatisation, economic hardship and poverty, and physical and mental health problems. The Homeless World Cup exists to help end this crisis in all its forms. Everyone deserves a home – it is a fundamental human right (United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
About HFCA at the Homeless World Cup
HFCA have co ordinated the Cambodian team for the following tournaments
- 2008 Melbourne, Australia
- 2009 Milan, Italy
- 2010 Rio, Brazil
- 2011 Paris, France,
- 2012 Mexico City, Mexico
- 2013 Poznan, Poland
- 2014 Santiago, Chile
- 2015 Amsterdam, Holland
- 2016 Glasgow, Scotland/UK
- 2017 Oslo, Norway
- 2019 Cardiff, Wales/UK