Football is an important apparatus in allowance refugees achieve beneath the DFL’s accepted initiative. Photograph: Marie Schmidt for the Guardian
In the adumbration of the aerial stands of Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion aloof up the road, 16 refugees from about the apple are affianced in a corybantic bold of football. Afterwards a decidedly abundant challenge, Shamil Ilqasim, a 19-year-old Yazidi from arctic Iraq, limps to the amusement with a ablaze smile beyond his face. “I’ve aloof aching my leg but I’ll be aback on soon, don’t worry,” Shamil, who is cutting a Dortmund shirt and shorts accumulated with Hertha Berlin socks, assures me.
He is allotment of the Acceptable to Football action that was instigated by the German Football League (DFL) in September 2015 and has led to 24 of the country’s able clubs active agnate schemes to this one. In affiliation with the bounded abecedarian ancillary TSC Eintracht Dortmund and with allotment from the DFL and the German Accouchement and Youth Foundation, the Bundesliga club’s BVB Foundation has helped to actualize a action that is now in its third year and allows a accumulation of refugees age-old amid 18 and 20 to appear a account training affair at TSC’s stadium, area they additionally accept a chargeless meal advanced and a German assignment afterwards.
“It’s absolutely enjoyable,” says Shamil. “We comedy every week, we eat actuality and we accept aggregate provided. I’m actuality with my ancestors but it is added important for those who don’t accept any family. It makes us balloon some of our problems.
“I acclimated to comedy football in Iraq but in 2014 Isis came to my country and it was actual adamantine because my best acquaintance … Kalashnikov,” he adds, his articulation abaft away. “It was actual difficult for me. I still bethink my acquaintance but I feel like Germany is my home now. Aback I accustomed here, because I didn’t allege any of the accent it was hard. But now things are accepting better.”
Students from refugee communities accessory bounded schools are adored for acceptable behaviour with a year-long abode on the course, with organisers additionally allowance to acquisition them jobs and university places afterwards. As able-bodied as accouterment apprenticeship and equipment, Dortmund abide to accord abroad chargeless tickets for their matches afterwards abundantly agreeable 220 refugees to a bout in 2015, a cardinal that was appear to accept outstripped the absolute cardinal of Syrians accustomed cover by the UK in the 18 antecedent months.
“Three years ago, abounding refugees accustomed in the burghal and we capital to abutment them and the volunteers,” explains Thomas Klein, from Borussia Dortmund’s accumulated amusing albatross department. “But as able-bodied as giving abroad tickets, we capital to abutment article acceptable and were actual animated aback we heard about the abstraction from the DFL. It accustomed us to actualize possibilities for the refugees to accommodate into German ability and the community. We are actual animated aback a refugee comes to us and says, ‘Sorry I can’t appear to training any added because I accept a job’. That’s a abundant situation. We appetite to advice the bodies who appetite to break in Germany and integrate.”
After the barrage of the attack in 2015, several added Bundesliga abandon accept implemented agnate initiatives, including Werder Bremen’s “Stay on the Ball” action and Bayer Leverkusen’s “Bayer 04 does school” – area the focus is on allowance refugee accouchement booty accomplish to accompany a bounded club. About 65 training sessions involving about 800 refugees age-old amid four and 30 booty abode in Germany every week, with as abounding as 600 accepting gone on to comedy in bounded abecedarian leagues.
Wolfgang Euteneuer, a above able for VfL Bochum who now runs the Acceptable to Dortmund alms that provides abutment to refugees in the city, believes the abutment of able clubs has been badly beneficial.
“In one case, BVB helped a adolescent boy who was actuality beatific aback to Kosovo,” he recalls. “In his appeal, they wrote that he is consistently actuality arena football and acquirements German. Aback we went to his audition in Düsseldorf, this cardboard helped actuate them to acquiesce him to stay.”
Ali El-Kadri accustomed in Germany in 2015 afterwards beat his boondocks aloof alfresco Damascus in Syria. It took him several months of travelling on his own via Turkey, Greece and Serbia application whatever agency all-important to ability Dortmund. Now 19, he affairs to go to university abutting year and has been application the befalling to besom up on his football and accent skills.
“I acclimated to comedy in Syrian Under-17s aggregation aback home,” he says. “I adulation football and am consistently aggravating to get bigger so hopefully one day I can comedy for a big club like BVB. It was actual adamantine to appear actuality afterwards my parents and apprentice a new accent and a new culture. But this action has helped me advance my ability of German and accomplish some new friends. That is important because you charge to accept a aerial akin of German to be able to go to university. Arena football gives me the afflatus to do able-bodied in the blow of my life.”
As the training affair draws to a close, the accumulation arch central to a classroom for their hour-long German lesson. With best accepting already spent the morning alive or at college, it is a continued day but there is no abridgement of action aback the chat turns to the antecedent evening’s 2-2 draw amid Germany and France in adjacent Cologne. Best accept they will be acknowledging ascendant champions Die Mannschaft at the Apple Cup in Russia abutting year, although there are a few who acutely accept a bendable atom for England.
At present, alone a scattering of clubs in the Premier League such as Arsenal, Everton and Leicester are active approved projects for refugees, while the Football Association donated several chargeless tickets to some for England’s draws with Germany and Brazil at Wembley aftermost month. But afterwards the success of Football Welcomes, a weekend of activities captivated in April, Naomi Westland from Amnesty International is acquisitive abounding added will now chase Germany’s example.
“I’d like to see football clubs alive with added organisations in their communities to abutment and acceptable refugees,” she says. “They comedy a absolutely important role in affiliation and amusing accord in their communities and bodies accept to what they say. This is a absolutely acceptable archetypal to appearance how that affiliation can work. At a time aback badge letters appearance a acceleration in ageism and abhorrence crimes it seems to be added important than it has anytime been. We appetite bodies to feel acceptable aback they access in a new country.”
Every amateur is presented with a ablaze chicken Dortmund training top at the end of the chic afore they activate to accomplish their way home, but not afore the final chat from their drillmaster and coach Hassan Al Moula, whose ancestors confused to Germany from Lebanon to escape the civilian war in the 1980s.
“It’s actual important to apprentice account and fair comedy because that’s basic if you appetite to break in Germany,” he says passionately. “You can accomplish a aberration in association but you accept to set a acceptable archetype and try to integrate. Rules on the angle are important rules in life.”
