Tottenham Hotspur to fund Team India in Homeless World Cup

In something very encouraging English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur renewed their sponsorship agreement with Team India for the 8th Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup.

Team India is organized and run by Krida Vikas Sanstha (KVSN) working with over 10,000 people through their slum soccer programme. The partnership will see the English Premier League Club fund Team India during the forthcoming competition in Rio, Brazil, which takes place from September 19-26.

Daniel Levy, Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur said, "Our involvement in last year's Homeless World Cup was extremely successful and we are delighted to be involved again this year. The Premier League is vastly growing in popularity in India, as is the support for Spurs, and so it's very satisfying that through football we can help make a positive impact as part of our global community strategy. Our involvement with the Homeless World Cup is one aspect of what we hope will be a bigger role for Tottenham Hotspur in our long-term support of football development in India."

Vijay Barse, Founder KVSN, Manager Team India Homeless World Cup is delighted by the news: "KVSN organises the development of grass roots football in India and it is very important to our success that our participants get a chance to participate at the Homeless World Cup, this opportunity has been realized by the timely support of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Players from slums of Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai are representing India this year and they are delighted to be participating with the support of a professional English Premier League Team."

Homeless World Cup founder Mel Young said: "Homelessness is a global issue and creative partnerships are needed to address it. Spurs is a fantastic example of what a premier football brand can do to make a difference and we applaud them for it."

In addition to providing financial support to Team India, Tottenham Hotspur will also provide kit, coaching advice and signed memorabilia for auction. The Club will also seek to engage further with KVSN through their own partnerships.

For more information visit: www.homelessworldcup.org

About KVSN, the Slum Soccer programme

Krida Vikas Sanstha Nagpur (KVSN) or in English 'Sport for the Homeless', is based in Nagpur, and runs football programmes to inspire and educate the most disadvantaged members of society. KVSN began by providing organized leagues for the homeless and slum dwellers, many of whom were addicted to drugs or alcohol, and involved in petty crimes or violence. The dramatic decrease in these harmful activities and the improvement in the participants' lifestyles inspired KVSN to expand such that it is now running slum soccer programmes in over 15 cities and is addressing issues such as HIV/AIDS infection, personal hygiene and environmental protection. KVSN has organized marches to raise awareness of these issues and an India-Pakistan friendship bicycle rally along the disputed border to promote peace in the region. Currently, KVSN is in the process of developing a community development centre to offer participants housing, school education and vocational training.

www.slumsoccer.org


About the Homeless World Cup

Beating homelessness through football, the Homeless World Cup is an annual world class, international football tournament inspiring 64 national grass roots football projects and over 30,000 homeless players a year to change their lives: over 70% change for the better. The 8th Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup takes place from September 19–26 at Copacabana Beach, Rio, Brazil before the baton is handed to the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup from August 19-29, 2011. Homeless World Cup is supported by UEFA, Vodafone Foundation, Nike, global ambassador Eric Cantona, international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.

www.homelessworldcup.org


About Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Founded in 1882, Tottenham Hotspur is the 15th largest football club in the world in terms of turnover. In 1961 Tottenham Hotspur became the first club in the modern era to win the League Championship and FA Cup 'double'. In winning the European Cup-Winners Cup two years later they became the first British club to win a major European trophy. In all, Spurs have achieved two League Championships, won the FA Cup eight times, the League Cup four times, and a major European trophy on three occasions. The most recent success was the 2-1 Carling Cup Final victory against Chelsea in 2008.
Their Barclays Premier League matches are broadcast in to 211 territories worldwide, and more than 166 million people world-wide support Tottenham Hotspur or like to see them do well, including 4 million in India. In the 2010/2011 season Tottenham Hotspur will play Champions League football for the first time in the clubs history.

www.tottenhamhotspur.com