Afrigather By JohnPaul Nnamdi
The Sportplatz Jahnstadion Sandweg buzzed with festivity on June 15, the day of the Göttingen Integration Cup, a soccer event that introduced collectively immigrants from numerous backgrounds and continents to fulfill, get to know one another and share feelings by means of soccer.
Organised by the Sierra Leone Union Goettingen E.V, it wasn’t nearly objectives and victories; it was a celebration of id and fostering unity. Because it has been achieved for over a decade, residents of Göttingen, representing their African, South American and Asian heritage, devoted the day to play aggressive soccer as a way of bridging cultures and weaving their very own narratives on German soil.
The event featured groups represented by majorly African nations: Liberia, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Burundi, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia and Guinea. Different groups had been Colombia, Afghanistan, Albania and Kurdistan. Every group donned a semblance of their nation’s jersey, taking turns to play from group stage to knock out, with aspect points of interest comparable to barbeque and Afrobeat rhythms within the stands.
“Now we have been doing this for over 10 years, concentrating on integrating foreigners and immigrants in Göttingen. We choose a day to deliver them collectively by means of this soccer event,” Abubakar Sankoh, the secretary common of Sierra Leone Union Göttingen and the organiser of the occasion, advised Soccernet.ng.
He stated the occasion has been a platform for individuals who come collectively to meet up with associates they hardly ever see frequently on account of busy schedules, work or research.
“Every time we organise this occasion, there may be at all times an environment of friendship, togetherness and other people get to see themselves after a very long time. The motive behind that is to maintain the foreigners collectively by means of sport. There are different cultural occasions, however soccer attracts everybody,” Sankoh added.
The one-day soccer event had 16 groups and all video games had been performed from 10am to 8pm. The groups had been divided into two teams as every recreation lasted for quarter-hour. 4 groups from every group certified to the knockout stage which then produced Burundi and South Sudan as finalist. Burundi defeated South Sudan to win this yr’s version of the competitors.
The affect of the one-day soccer event has been felt across the metropolis and has attracted plenty of goodwill. Additionally it is backed by the Stadt Göttingen who’re the foremost sponsors of the occasion.
The occasion tends to be growing range in Göttingen and helps to construct extra communication between the immigrants from completely different nations dwelling within the metropolis. And a few members attribute this to the quantity of people that present up for the occasion.
Michael Ekaba, the captain of the Nigeria group, expressed shock on the massive turnout.
“It was our first time of collaborating and it was an excellent one. We weren’t anticipating the occasion to be this large, however on getting there we had been amazed by the quantity of individuals and groups that additionally got here out.
“Regardless of not profitable the competitors, we nonetheless loved ourselves as a result of we acquired to fulfill different African brothers in Göttingen. There have been individuals I’ve not seen for a really very long time and we acquired to fulfill throughout the competitors. I hope we get to see extra groups within the subsequent version,” Ekaba stated.
Sankoh hopes that the optimistic feedabck generated would encourage extra organisations to sponsor the occasion.
By JohnPaul Nnamdi writes from Germany
