An amateur soccer tournament in France aimed at celebrating ethnic diversity is attracting talent scouts, sponsors and increasing public attention, by uniting young players from low-income neighborhoods with high-profile names in the sport. [...]
The National Neighborhoods Cup is intended to shine a positive spotlight on working-class areas with large immigrant populations that some politicians and commentators scapegoat as breeding grounds for crime, riots and Islamic extremism.
Along with teams from former French colonies in Africa, the participants included teams from European nations like Portugal and Italy. Players from France’s former colonies in Asia also competed. The France team — like its World Cup-winning national team — is made up of white, Black, Arab and multiracial players that reflects the country’s diversity.
Mohamed Diamé, who made 31 appearances for Senegal and played for West Ham and Newcastle in the English Premier League, former Mali and Paris Saint-Germain defender Sammy Traoré and Senegal manager Aliou Cissé all took part. In February, Cissé became a national hero after guiding Senegal to long-awaited victory in the African Cup of Nations.
The amateur cup has grown since Sow started in 2019. Colorful placards of multinationals and local companies sponsoring the event were seen around the field. Young people and families can grab a merguez sandwich — a spicy sausage of North African origin long popular around France’s soccer stadiums — or other snacks and sing along to popular French songs, played by a DJ near the field.
Suburbs and satellite towns around big cities, known in French as “les banlieues,” are fertile ground for soccer talents in Europe. Academies in France — notably Lyon, Monaco, Nantes and Rennes — are ranked among the best in the Europe along with Spain for developing young players such as Real Madrid great Karim Benzema and World Cup star Kylian Mbappé.
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