From Argentina to Australia, South Africa to Portugal, Cameroon to Brazil, Germany to England, homeless people come together for a fast-paced street soccer tournament full of courage, inspiration, grassroots grit and glory. The first tournament was held in Austria in 2003 followed by Sweden in 2004 and Edinburgh in 2005. This year, 48 countries with 480 socially marginalised players will take part when the first match kicks off at the Grand Parade in Cape Town from 24 to 30 September 2006.

Kaizer Chiefs joins several world-class football teams that support the Homeless World Cup teams. The nine player team from South Africa known as Bafowethu (our brothers), are scheduled for a training session with Kaizer Chiefs who will be giving them an official send off on Friday the 15th of September, almost a week before the tournament begins.

Two of Kaizer Chiefs players Shaun Bartlett and Siyabonga Nkosi joined the ever growing number of celebrities showing support for the Homeless World Cup. Bartlett and Nkosi have urged everyone to "get into the Homeless World Cup" in its website: www.streetsoccer.org

The Homeless World Cup is a brainchild of Mel Young (the co-founder of Big Issue in Scotland) and Harald Schmied who created the concept in 2001 at the Annual International Network of Street Papers Conference in Cape Town (Big Issue is a weekly magazine sold by homeless people in the streets of Scotland). It is endorsed by UEFA, the UN and Nike International. Locally, it endorsed by the South African Football Association, Departments of Social Development, Sports & Recreation and the South African Sports Commission.

For more information on the Homeless World Cup, visit www.streetsoccer.org