R

umah Cemara, an organization concerned with drug abuse and HIV/AIDS, which is the organizer of the Indonesian team for the Homeless World Cup (HWC), will hold a selection to form a national soccer team.

Indonesia'€™s HWC national team manager Febby Arhemsyah, said selection was open to former drug addicts, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWA) as well as people from urban poor communities.

Febby said the selection would take place from June 1 to 21 in nine cities across Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), North Sumatra, Banten, Jakarta and West Java provinces.

'€œWe will look for 24 players, which will be downsized to eight core players,'€ Febby said in an email on Wednesday.

He said the key players would undergo centralized training and counseling in Bandung.

The players, Febby went on, would be groomed to develop the motivation and fighting spirit required for representing the country in the 2014 HWC in Santiago, Chile, in October.

According to Febby, the team'€™s participation in the HWC would be of importance for its players as they would seldom have the chance to make major changes to their lives through such a competition.

He said the movement of changing lives through soccer had already involved hundreds of players from at least 70 countries worldwide.

'€œThis is a street soccer competition organized regularly for marginalized communities from around the globe,'€ he added.

In 2011, Indonesia sent a team to France, which brought home the title of Best Newcomer Team and also achieved the Best Player award through Ginandjar Koesmayadi.

The team'€™s success continued when it was ranked fourth in the world and received the Best Coach UEFA Award in Mexico City in 2012.

In 2013, a new Indonesian team traveled to Poznan, Poland, where it was ranked eighth in the world.

For this year'€™s event, Febby said the team still faced financial problems as well as issues of support from the soccer federation and the government.

He added that as of May 12 this year, sponsorship funds amounted to only 15 percent of the total
Rp 950 million (US$80,000) needed to cover scouting for players, centralized training, character building and plane fares for the 2014 HWC.

'€œThe only sponsors that have signed agreements with the team and are ready to disburse fresh funds are Pertamina EP and several other sponsors that have given support in the form of player needs, such as jerseys from Elastico and Ouval Research and promotional needs from CKS Asia,'€ said Febby.

During the selection, Rumah Cemara would cooperate with organizations such as Jepara Plus, Armeth, Bina Hati Foundation, Bali Health Foundation, Aksi NTB, KDS Medan, KDS Edelweis Plus, Kelima Foundation and DKRC Fusion, Febby said.

'€œInformation on the selection process can be monitored through Rumah Cemara'€™s Twitter account and Facebook page,'€ said Febby.