George Square to be transformed as Homeless World Cup venue

The centre of Glasgow will be radically transformed this summer to become the venue for the 2016 Homeless World Cup.

George Square will host the Homeless World Cup from 10-16 July. Picture: Warren Media

George Square will be home to three football pitches along with spectator seating for 3500 when the tournament kicks-off from 10-16 July.

A total of 48 men’s and 16 women’s teams will participate in the week-long tournament, with more than 100,000 fans expected to attend.

Organisers said the transformation of George Square would be handled sensitively to respect the several historic monuments and the city’s Cenotaph which stand there.

The 14th annual tournament takes place in Scotland as part of a three way partnership between the Homeless World Cup Foundation, the Scottish Government and Glasgow Life.

The Homeless World Cup organization was co-founded by Mel Young and Harald Schmied in 2001 to advocate for a global solution to homelessness.

The first tournament took place in 2003 in Graz, Austria. Host cities since then have included Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Cape Town and Melbourne.

Homeless World Cup Co-Founder Mel Young said: “George Square is a unique location to host this year’s Homeless World Cup. Our mission is to bring the tournament to the centre of the cities we visit, because homelessness isn’t something that should be tucked away.

“We need to talk about it, therefore being here was very important.”