Some Africans Denied Entry Visas for Youth Soccer Tournament

Germany may be going out of its way to be friendly and open to visitors from all over the world and staying true to its official World Cup motto, "A Time to Make Friends." But, not everyone, it seems, is welcome.

The Street Football World Cup, which aims to bring together 24 teams consisting of girls and boys aged between 16 and 21 from all over the world, will be missing two squads when it kicks off in Berlin's Kreuzberg district on July 2. German embassies in Ghana and Nigeria have refused visas to the young team members to travel to Germany.

Embassies say players won't go back

Quoting unnamed diplomatic sources in Ghana and Nigeria, the Berliner Zeitung daily reported that the embassies were worried that the participants would not go back to their home countries after the tournament.

Most of the young soccer players from Ghana and Nigeria come from broken homes, are unemployed and live on the streets, facts which have led to fears on the part of German diplomats that the players do not have strong enough ties to their home countries and would want to remain in Germany, the paper reported. It added that the German embassies in Ghana and Nigeria also doubted the authenticity of some of the documents provided by the players.

"Those applying for a visa have to be ready to go back by showing proof of their ties to their countries," Michael Ebel, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin told the sports news agency sid. "That didn't apply in the case of every single player from Nigeria and Ghana," he added.

Under the aegis of the Berlin-based worldwide "Streetfootballworld," a worldwide network for street soccer, the young players participate in projects that use soccer to promote peace and end violence, drug abuse, poverty and the spread of AIDS.

The tournament, which runs from July 2-8 in Berlin's Kreuzberg district, home to large numbers of immigrants, is financially supported by the United Nations and the German government and is part of the official FIFA World Cup cultural program.

A blow to the tournament

Those associated with the program say the denial of visas to teams from Ghana and Nigeria has dealt a blow to the tournament. Street Football World Cup organizer Jürgen Griesbeck told the Berliner Zeitung it was a "very painful decision" and a "huge disappointment," adding that Ghanaians and Nigerians were being subjected to a "certain blanket suspicion."

Griesbeck pointed out that 11 squads had received visas for Germany, including four from Africa. He rejected allegations that certain streetfootballworld projects in foreign countries deliberately wanted to fly youth, wanting to flee their home countries, to Germany.

"One top criterion for selecting the teams was the willingness of the kids to go back. We have full trust in our partners in those countries," Griesbeck said, referring to Ghana and Nigeria.

Streetfootballworld has been active in Ghana since 2002 and in Nigeria since 2004. Both projects focus on combating AIDS. One of the network's projects in Kenya was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize some years ago.

Griesbeck added that the rejection of visas for Ghana and Nigeria would hamper the network's projects in Africa.

"That's certainly no way to show African projects a perspective," Griesbeck said, adding that it created an impression among the youth there that legal work didn't really pay.

The organizers, however, have no plans to replace Ghana and Nigeria with other teams and the tournament will go ahead with 22 teams.

They include squads from Afghanistan, South Africa, Rwanda, Costa Rica, USA, Turkey, Bosnia among others. Entry to the games will cost one euro.