Libya: African refugees play football in Tripoli as African Cup of Nations approaches

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African migrants gathered to watch a football match between two migrant teams on a sandy pitch in Tripoli’s Souq al-Jum’aa district, on Friday.

Footage showed the fans cheering the players during the match.

“For the match, first, the players gather every Friday to play in this playground, and we are facing no problem with this. Secondly, the young people come to play and rejoice, and no one harasses them, and this is a good thing,” said a fan called Abdel Nasser Mohamed.

Another fan, Suleiman Mohamed, complained about the lack of resources, and wished the local community to provide support, noting that the playground “is not suitable because it is too small.”

Libya, shattered by conflict, has become a key departure point for African and Asian migrants trying to reach Europe.

An estimate of 1,500 migrants has drowned in boats and shipwrecks on the routes across the central Mediterranean in 2021, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

SOUNDBITES:

SOT, Abdel Nasser Mohamed, Fan (Arabic): “For the match, first, the players gather every Friday to play in this playground, and there is no problem for us. Secondly, the young people come to play and no one is exposed to them, and this is a good thing.”

SOT, Abdel Nasser Mohamed, Fan (Arabic): “God willing, next week the African Nations Championship will be held, and God willing, it will be good and the performance will be without problems.”

SOT, Suleiman Mohamed, Fan (Arabic): “We come here every Friday because it is a holiday. We come to play football every Friday because we don’t have time during the week. We only play matches on Fridays, all Africans come, whether they are Malians, Senegalese, Nigerians, from the Ivory Coast or Burkina Faso, or any West Africans. We don’t have enough resources, we wish people would help us, we want to move forward. We only play here in the playground, which is not suitable because it is too small. We wish someone could help us, or that the society could help us. It is important to us.”

SOT, Radwan Al-Zerti, Referee of the match (Arabic): “This playground needs maintenance and needs good organisation, because Friday is considered a festival for the African community, where all young people come to watch, as they love football, and African football is well-known as you know.”

#AfricanCupofNations #Africa

Video ID: 20220101-049

Video on Demand: https://ruptly.tv/videos/20220101-049
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