The Peace Cup - Dusty Football in attridgeville

The 2010 FIFA World Cup (TM) isn't the only football tournament going on in South Africa. In Atteridgeville, west to Pretoria, a Peace Cup began on June 5th, involving 26 teams from 16 different nations. The Peace Cup is an initiative by Damietta Peace Initiative, a Franciscan inter-religious peace organization, and Caritas Internationalis, the international federation of Catholic Charities.

The final of the Peace Cup will be held in the poorest part of Atteridgeville, on a locally cleared and prepared dirt pitch, on July 3rd, in presence of the Irish Ambassador, the French Embassy’s deputy Head of Mission and the Cultural Councillor of the Argentinean Embassy.

The players are local people, fans coming for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (TM) and refugees from all Africa who live near Pretoria. Father Kees Thönissen, Director for the Damietta Peace Initiative, noted the aims of this tournament: "bring about value change through the immediate experience of the 'other' as a human being with unique qualities and skills."

While much of the world's attention is focused on South Africa as some of the greatest names in soccer play for their nations, this Peace Cup tries to highlight some of the major concerns of the Southern African Catholic Community – Informal settlements, access to amenities, acceptance of refugees and Migrants, and the need to be active agent of peace building.

Details (including directions) are available at www.churchontheball.com, The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference 2010 world cup sports website.

(Press release from SACBC. Used with permission.)