These are the words of Darfur United Head Coach Mark Hodson in response to the announcement of the 2016 ConIFA World Cup in the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, a disputed territory and partially recognized state controlled by a separatist government on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. All the teams will need to travel to Sochi, Russia and together will travel over land to reach Abkhazia.
As usual, it won’t be an easy journey for our Darfur United team members, but our fearless team is mobilizing and ready to take on the challenge. The biggest challenge, as usual, will be to get the players to the tournament and prepared to compete against the other teams. i-ACT will create a plan A, B, and C to make sure we get DU to the tournament!
The next step will be to find financial support to make the journey. These are football players and they deserve the best we can give them. Those who will be traveling from the Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad are facing devastating food and service cuts from international aid organizations and leaving their families will be difficult. We will need the entire Darfur United community to step up and make this happen! As our DU Spirit Award says, “Obstacles be damned.”
“Dr.” Alex Nuttall-Smith and Rachael Rapinoe, both recipients of the DU Spirit Award, at the Women’s World Cup in June 2015 with Ella and Julia Nuttall-Smith.
More details to come! Follow us on Facebook and twitter for ongoing updates. Start today by sharing two recent articles on the 2016 ConIFA World Cup:
Like Soccer, but sick of FIFA? This is the World Cup for you
Global Post, July 21, 2015
World Cup for rebel republics to be played in Abkhazia
The Guardian, July 14, 2015