Melbourne recently hosted a major soccer tournament made up of Afghan diaspora teams from across Australia and around the globe.

Sponsored by refugee settlement agency AMES Australia, 7Eleven and Melbourne City Football Club, the ‘Unity Cup’ tournament saw almost 50 men’s, women’s and youth teams compete over five days at Tatterson Park, Keysborough, in the city’s south east.

The competition, held between December 26 and 30, included teams from New Zealand and the US and attracted almost 19,000 spectators over the five days.

Hosted by the Melbourne Afghan Soccer Association (MASA), the tournament had a focus on nurturing and supporting Afghan youth.

MASA President Raz Baqeri said 20 per cent of the men’s senior teams and 22 per cent of women’s teams were made up of players under the age of 18.

“The tournament was all about supporting our youth and young people. That was our priority,” Raz said.

“The whole event was a great success, everyone really enjoyed it. It generated some great opportunities and there were a lot of friendships forged,” he said.

Raz said the tournament fielded 28 men’s teams, 12 women’s teams and nine junior teams.

“There were fourteen Melbourne-based teams, twelve interstate teams and two from overseas and we had 56 players who had played in Afghan national teams in both the men’s and women’s competitions,” he said.

“Thirty per cent of the spectators were from interstate and we had 326 interstate players,” he said.

The Adelaide-based Ghan-Kilburn team won the men’s competition defeating the US-based Afghan Premier team in the final; while Melbourne United won the women’s and Oqab United won the junior title.

The tournament was kicked off by AMES Australia Senior Manager Development and Innovation Lucia Haliburton.

“It was great to be able to support such an inclusive and youth focused event. Many of the Afghan teams invited members of other communities to come and play which was wonderful to see,” Lucia said. 

Awards were presented by the President of Afghanistan’s Football Federation Mohammed Yusuf Kargar who told the gathering that the tournament was the biggest of its kind he had attended.

Melbourne City stars Florin Berenguer, Melissa Barbieri and James Nieuwenhuizen also attended the tournament.

Melbourne hosts the tournament every two years and it will return in 2024 after being held in Adelaide this year.

Former Socceroo Captain Craig Foster said the tournament was a great example of how soccer can be a powerful tool for us to promote respect and equity and it is powerful agent for social change.

He said that football is the perfect metaphor for a just and humane world.

The player turned human rights advocate said soccer also represented a world view that sees everyone as essentially equal.

“There are rules in the game that apply to everyone no matter who they are or where they come from,” he said.

“I think you can see something similar to a human rights framework in the game of football. Here is the pitch and here are the regulations we have agreed to.

“And I think sport can be a powerful tool for us to promote respect and equity and it is powerful agent for social change,” Mr Foster said.