In order to promote football talent enjoyed by some of the refugees in Germany and in order to help them integrate, the German Football Federation has launched a number of projects and initiatives benefiting youth refugees to change their lives completely.

“Welcome to football,” a new project launched by the Bundesliga Foundation in collaboration with a group of German clubs in order to encourage young refugees to integrate through soccer practice and open better prospects in front of them.

Mainz team belonging to the first division clubs in Germany (Bundesliga) is the first partner in this project, which Bundesliga Foundation has allocated an amount of 750 thousand euros, and will include in the near future other clubs such as Stuttgart and Berlin as well.

The Syrian Mohammed Gado, difficult political circumstances prevailing in his country forced him to flee to Germany, he was is one of the most prominent talent in Syria, who led the Syrian team for 17 years.

Gado meet Croatian agent players named Ivan Knytsovic also live in southern Germany and helped him to carry out a series of tests in clubs such as the yen and the Hidnhim and plans for presentation to the school Hertha Berlin team, which plays in the First Division, and that Knytsovic says “if it’s done, it would be like winning the lottery game”, and that because of the good conditions offered by big clubs like Berlin to their stars emerging, such as the possibility of housing in a boarding school and the combination of football and study in addition to the important financial contract also the benefit of the agent.

However, the big challenge, which has been facing Gado is the right of obtain a permanent permission of the German authorities to stay in Germany, where the family resorted initially to Italy, so the risk of deportation there remains a possibility, although the Syrian players convince coaches every time they summoned him to conduct technical tests, but a lot of clubs worry to deal with him permanently for fear of being deported from Germany at any time, but the Syrian talent finally found who embracing him which is the Heidenheim team under 19 years practitioner Champions special youth first class, it is an opportunity for Gado to showcase his talent and draw attention more and may be the next destination after that a great team like Bremen or Dortmund.

It is noteworthy that Germany has seen other projects and initiatives that help to embrace refugees in football clubs, amateur clubs and was a pioneer in this regard along the lines of “SV Babelsberg” who established a team composed only of refugees playing in the amateur league.

Toralv Hontse, club marketing representative, who is also an adviser to the refugee team: “The team did not face any racist incidents, however we were worried of the consequences in case it happened, but convinced the people in Babelsberg in this project was very large”.

Hontse adds, “We want the players to feel that they have a home here and they can vent their pressure, we give this as an example of the process of integration and give the refugees a voice.”