This year (like any year ending in an even number) is a big one for sport. The UEFA Euro 2016 tournament kicks off this Friday the 10th June, and football haters everywhere will jump on the bandwagon and rally to support their country.
It's not all about the big cups, however. Football unites people across the globe because, unlike sports that require expensive equipment or particular conditions, football is anyone's game. All you really need is two sweatshirts for goal posts and a flat piece of land.
This thread of universal opportunity – through rich and poor, women and men, able-bodied and disabled – is the core to adidas-supported project GoalClick. Their mission is to "find one person from every country in the world and provide them with one analogue camera to take photos that symbolise football in their country."
Every participant has been provided with a disposable film camera, pre-paid postage and free rein to photograph what football means to them. There's something incredibly special about a simple disposable camera; it's like school uniform – a bit shit, but democratises the project so that everyone involved, regardless of background, gets an equal opportunity.
We found the stories moving, and the football element almost disintegrates when the over-riding feeling of unity between people in different geographical locations is so evident. Gender equality is a big theme in the project too, since the organisers involved as many women as possible in order to neutralise the fact that football is generally seen as a male-dominated sport.
Project creator Matt expects the that GoalClick will have covered every country in the world by 2018, but, in the meantime, they are exhibiting the work during the Euro 2016 Tournament, between the 10th of June and the 10th of July, at BL_NK, 25-27 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3LT. You can also follow them on Instagram @GoalClick.
Germany
FC Bayern Frauen warm up before a Bundesliga match against FC Köln in Grünwalder Stadion. The German photographer is Marisa Schlenker from Bad Durrheim in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Marisa said, “I am very engaged in women’s football, as a player, a supporter and an activist. I say activist because there are so many challenges facing women in football. There is the constant argument about women’s football development, which is always being compared to men’s football in terms of its product, revenue potential and marketability. I always find the inequalities are linked to the fact that women’s football games do not get enough fans or public interest and therefore sponsors are not as interested and the media does not take notice.
However this is changing, as was shown by the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada, where records for tickets sold and viewers were broken. I wanted to give a glimpse of the culture surrounding professional women’s football in Germany. Germany is highly recognised for its women’s league, as it has a long history, is well connected to the men’s league and is evolving.”
Courtesy of Goal Click/Marisa Schlenker
India
A girls' football team trains in Dharavi in Mumbai, India - one of Asia's most densely populated slums. The 14 year old photographer Blessy Sippora plays for the Reality Gives Girls' Football Program.
Reality Gives @realitygives runs a variety of projects in Dharavi, including a kindergarten, dance and art classes, a cricket project for boys and the Girls' Football Program. In the past year over 60 girls have taken part and ages range from 11-18, tackling the common stigma against girls that prevents them having the opportunity to play sport in India.
Courtesy of Goal Click/Blessy Sippora
Peru
Inca guides play football on the Inca Trail in Peru at 3,700 metres above sea level.
The photographer from Peru David Palomino Gallegos @inkasp1 is a guide in the Andes mountain range on the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. David took photos of his fellow guides and porters playing a football match in the mountains.
David said, “I wanted to show how strong the Andean people are. All my family going back many generations are Andean people from the mountains. Football is my life – I grew up playing football and play at least twice a week. The Inca guides and Peruvians love football and that they are never too tired to play!”
Courtesy of Goal Click/David Palomino Gallegos
Mexico
Mexico City. The student band of leading Mexican club Pumas UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) prepare to play before Pumas kick off against Chiapas Jaguares. A heavy police presence at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario is visible in front of the band and armed anti-riot police stand on the concourses above.
For his Goal Click photos Mexican artist and landscape photographer Pablo Lopez Luz @pablolopezluz documented a typical match day at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario. Pumas have won more titles than any other Mexican league team since the turn of the century, despite having one of the lowest payrolls in the league. Pablo told us, “Football matches in Mexico City tend to get violent, especially if the home team loses. Therefore the city government has been sending the police for every match to keep order." Pablo says this is because the students and supporters tend to be very proud and politically inclined.
Courtesy of Goal Click/Pablo Lopez Luz
Egypt
An Egyptian girl sits with her football in Helwan, Cairo.
The Egyptian photographer is Passant Mehwad, a football coach and player for the Egypt women’s national football team. Passant is a coach with the Premier Skills programme, an international partnership between the English Premier League and British Council.
Passant said she “wanted to show that football does not discriminate - it is for everyone, not only the rich. The poor can play football even if they have nothing, and football exists even if people cannot see it or do not want to see it. I wanted to convey that football is played everywhere, especially in deprived areas where football is like oxygen to people. Football is the most loved and watched sport in Egypt, which gives us the opportunity to benefit the community and to reach more people.”
Courtesy of Goal Click/Passant Mehwad
Serbia
The ultimate derby match, Red Star Belgrade versus Partizan Belgrade in Serbia, also known as ‘Veciti Derbi’ (Eternal Derby). As part of a special collaboration with @copa90, the photographer @thevujanic travelled to the Belgrade Derby, notorious for its intensity and hostile atmosphere. This match did not disappoint, with fires and flares in the stands and a riot delaying the match as police dealt with fan clashes.
With this photo David said he “tried to capture the key elements that are present in a Belgrade Derby between Red Star and Partizan, especially the colour and atmosphere. There is a name in Serbian for when a stand lets off multiple flares; it’s called a bakljada. The red smoke of the flares has a menacing feel; it really does something to the sky. The smoke is so thick, with all the faces behind it and the flags lined up along the stand at the bottom. It is a fascinating spectacle.”
Courtesy of Goal Click/David Vujanic
Lebanon
Women play in a mixed group on a Lebanese beach. The Lebanese photographer Dr Issam Srour said,”Lebanese people will find a way to play football anywhere. A family outing or a gathering of friends will easily end up in a game of football that combines young and old, boy and girl, Christian and Muslim. It does not matter if the goal is broken or if the net is torn: if there is a spherical object and a bit of space to run then there is ample space for a game of football.”
Courtesy of Goal Click/Issam Srour
Sierra Leone
The Single Leg Amputee Sports Association (SLASA) football team in Sierra Leone warming up on Lumley Beach at the west end of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.
SLASA, the national amputee football team, was founded in 2001 at the end of the decade long civil war in Sierra Leone and runs a football based programme for amputees. The photographer is their coach Pastor Abraham Bangura.
Courtesy of Goal Click/Abraham Bangura
Iraq
A young girl takes part in a Spirit of Soccer training session near Kirkuk, Iraqi Kurdistan - the focus of recent media attention due to the ongoing conflict in the region. Spirit of Soccer's mission is to use football to educate children about landmines and explosives in areas of past or ongoing conflict from Cambodia and Colombia to Syria and Iraq. In Iraq since 2009 Spirit of Soccer have given coaching sessions in Baghdad, Basra and Kirkuk to over 80,000 children, often under heavy shelling. The photographer is a coach with the organisation.
As Founder Scotty Lee explains, “A lot of women love to play football and getting them playing together at an early age is something quite profound. You get some powerful images when you have our female coaches in hijab training young men.
"About 25% of our target audience in Iraq is girls. In northern Iraq it is a lot easier. In central Iraq we work closely with local imams and have to be careful. In Hanakin we have two female coaches and they work just with the girls in very conservative areas. In Basra itself it is not too bad, but outside Basra by the Kuwaiti border we have to be careful how we approach and involve the girls. Everything is done on a cultural basis and a local basis with the local imams.”
Courtesy of Goal Click
Indonesia
Girls from FC Yakonde play football in Sentani, Papua, Indonesia. The photographer from Indonesia is Harry Widjaja @hrwidjaja from Uni Papua Football Community @unipapuafc. Uni Papua transformed from a simple football club into a social foundation in 2011 in order to tackle pervasive social issues on its native island, West Papua, but has since grown to reach all over Indonesia.
Harry says, “Most of the players here are girls who practice three times every week. We are not only teaching children how to play football. We build their character using football. We teach things they might never learn in school. We teach them to be happy, enjoy life and respect others. We teach them gender equality. There is much we can teach to society through football.
Some parts of professional club football in Indonesia think we are not 'real' football. Social inclusion through football is not popular yet here, but it is growing. Professional football makes a lot of money, but they do not prioritise social development. Our Football Federation still struggles with corruption.”
Courtesy of Goal Click/Harry Widjaja
Morocco
A girl plays football in a mixed game on Sindibad beach in Casablanca. The photographer Abderrahim Bourkia said “On every inch of the beach there is a game. The beach is the best place to be to play football!”
Courtesy of Goal Click/Abderrahim Bourkia
Rwanda
Two young Rwandan boys play at Gihisi football field in Nyanza, Southern Province, Rwanda. The photographer from Rwanda is Didier Bana, a coach and project coordinator with Football for Hope, Peace and Unity (FHPU). FHPU is an organisation that uses football to raise awareness of the atrocities committed during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against Tutsi (which killed over 1 million Tutsi and moderate Hutu) and rebuild Rwandan society through reconciliation and unity. This photo was taken during an FHPU project “Play For Hope: Rwanda20”.
Didier told us, “We have no idea of which ethnic background our coaches or children are because the new Rwanda does not look at its sons and daughters as Batutsi, Bahutu or Batwa! We only know them as Rwandans and members of FHPU football family – that is all. There’s a good chance that the people in pictures have stories connected with the genocide because every Rwandan has that link. Each of our coaches has 50-150 boys and girls between the age of 5 and 25, and our groups are a mix of disadvantaged families and young people from different family backgrounds."
Courtesy of Goal Click/Didier BanaLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?