Refugee Festival Scotland Football Tournament 2022

The annual Refugee Festival Scotland Football Tournament is an initiative of Glasgow Afghan United in collaboration with the Scottish Unity Football League.

The main aim of the football tournament was to bring different communities in Scotland to socialise and raise awareness of the plight of people worldwide who are forced to flee their homes and the experiences of those seeking refugee protection in Scotland.

Since 2012, the tournament has been bringing local and refugee
communities together to play and enjoy football. The event aims to use football to promote anti-discrimination and remove barriers such as race, religion, nationality, age and sexual orientation.

In total, 24 teams participated in the tournament, which is made up of players from over 50 nations.

People from different sectors, such as volunteers who help asylum
seekers, refugees and political parties, attended the tournament. Those people who attended the tournament delivered a speech regarding the importance and the purpose of the tournament.

Twenty-four teams were divided into four groups from A to D, and each group consisted of six teams. We were allocated in group A and played five games in a group stage, where we managed to win three games and lose two games, harvesting 9 points in total; however, as only two teams went through, we did not manage to go through to the knockout stage as two other teams in our group managed to gather 12 points each.

As an Oromo community, we participated in this tournament for the first time this year. Overall, it was a great experience as it allowed us to announce our existence and socialise with other communities in Scotland.