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Larry Bello reports on the final of the football competition that brought together teams of players of migrant origin living in Germany which took place recently in Frankfurt
‘Egyptian Hamburg’, ‘Balkan Boys’, ‘Sylli National Guinea’ and 9 other teams made of players with various migrant backgrounds gathered in Frankfurt on a sunny summer afternoon, coinciding with the round of 16 match day between Germany and Slovakia during the Euro 2016 soccer tournament in France.
Cup of Nation 2016 is a football competition organised by the marketing and communication agency Za Media and sponsored solely by the money transfer company Moneygram.
MoneyGram, one of the worldwide leading money transfer operators and a multicultural company with staff members from all parts of the globe, would like to promote the integration of foreigners with the event.
The two best teams that had prevailed in six preliminary matches in various German cities between 28 May and 18 June 2016 finally came together in Frankfurt to contest for the trophy and a prize money of 1,000 euros.
Michael Schütze, Vice President Central, Northern and Emerging Europe and the Baltics at MoneyGram International, said that “Sport is an ideal bridge to unite people from different backgrounds.” He added: “Our services in the field of money transfer are mainly used for remittances from migrants to their home countries. Our solutions connect people and cultures around the world and with the Cup of Nations, we want a sign for the sport, for the integration and for the merging of cultures”.
In realisation of these goals the final of the tournament in Frankfurt was packed with other activities; Children interactive programmes, musical and entertainment programmes featuring Eko Fresh, a German rapper of Turkish descent, and Ali As, a rapper from Munich. The rich multicultural event later culminated in the public viewing of the Euro 2016-knockout round match pitching Germany against Slovakia.
Peter Leis of Za Media said being part of the company was a positive integrational and multicultural experience in itself. The Pakistani-born Qamar Zaman and Sherry Kizhukandayil of Indian origin are the directors of Za Media with the rest of the company’s staff being of different national origins.
Za Media promotes and organises events that bring diverse cultures together on a common platform by bringing migrants together in Germany which according to Leis is especially important, “at this time that Europe is experiencing a large influx of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa”. He later stressed that Za Media was planning in the near future to extend its integrational events to neighbouring countries.
After a vigorous and sweaty duel between the migrants soccer competitors at the final tournament, the ‘#Notorasismus’ a team of Kosovo migrants from Munich emerged as the winner of the Cup der Nationen 2016. The team received a prize money of 1,000 euros with MoneyGram donating an equal amount again on behalf of the winning team to the German aid organization Aktion Deutschland Hilft e.V.
