A German selection won Wednesday in Nyon the first European football tournament between mainly refugees, an extension of the efforts of integration through sport initiated since the 2015-2016 migratory influx in Europe.
If the sporting issue was secondary, the players of FC Motor Neubrandenburg Süd, a formation with 24 nationalities from a rural area north of Berlin, dominated on penalties (2-2) the Swiss team from SRD Galaica -Onex, a club near Geneva.
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They therefore win the first “Unity Euro Cup”, jointly presented by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, co-responsible for the organization.
This initial edition, held a stone's throw from UEFA under a radiant sky and in front of a sparse but boiling public, opposed eight mixed selections, each made up of 70% refugee players.
Italy, France, Malta, Austria, Belgium and Ireland joined the two finalists.
The objective is to renew this competition “every year or every two years”, with term “more teams” and perhaps a women's tournament, and, above all, “to inspire and support” the aid of the 55 European federations to asylum seekers, explained to AFP Monica Namy, in charge of social responsibility within UEFA.
Launched "after the wave of migration in 2015-2016", the UEFA refugee support program - which does not reveal the amount - was first used to "allow them to play football", but "a lot of federations are now integrating refugees into referee or coach training,” according to Ms. Namy.
Others "activate their network to find jobs, or to integrate family members who do not wish to play volunteer roles or club administrators," continues the manager.
Wednesday's tournament offered a wide variety of situations, from the finalists accustomed to rubbing shoulders in a club to the French selection (4th), made up of players gathered in a few days and reinforced by Laura Georges, secretary general of the French Federation. and international to 188 selections.
“Some countries have been working on it for years, but this could make it possible to build a migrant selection that represents France”, explains Boubacar Bah, volunteer at the Parisian center of Cedar (Catholic Relief) and co-responsible for his football team.
For Laura Georges, one of the avenues could be "to organize a selection tournament" or to set up "a championship to elect the best team", while many young migrants cannot hold an FFF license, for lack of a title of stay.