It seems there’s a World Cup for everything these days. There’s the Women’s World Cup, of course, which will be held in China next year, there’s the Gay World Cup, which will be in Buenos Aires, also next year, and now the Homeless World Cup, to be held in Melbourne after Australia beat out bid cities in Britain, Italy and Switzerland. It has more participants than the FIFA World Cup, too: more than 50 countries are expected to send teams. Players must either be homeless or long-term unemployed. Games are four-a-side and last 14 minutes on a pitch measuring 20 meters by 14 meters. “The spirit and determination, along with a strong logistics proposal, helped us recognize immediately that this will be a life-changing experience for thousands of homeless players and a fantastic event for thousands of spectators,” said Australia’s state sports minister Justin Madden. The Brazilians are probably favorites for this one, too.
