World football will be on show in Darwin on Australia Day when the Refugee Cup is staged at Marrara

The long arm of football reaches out to the countries of the world with the Refugee Cup in another reminder of the power and magnetism of the beautiful game

The seventh Refugee Cup will be played at Marrara's Larrakia Park on Australia Day. Ahmad Mazloum (Lebanon), Zainab Mohamed (Somalia), Jyra Detenamo (Kiribati) and Benjamin Pareda-Alfonso (Colombia) get ready for the action. Picture: Grey Morris

THE seventh Refugee World Cup will be played at Marrara’s Larrakia Park on Australia Day.

Another example of football’s ability to embrace people of all ages, race, culture and languages, the Refugee World Cup has brought the world to Darwin.

The 2021 competition will involve 16 men’s sides and eight women in a sevens format where teams will play qualifying and finals matches of 20-minutes duration.

More than 200 players of both genders have registered for this year’s competition.

Men’s co-ordinator and Peru born Billy Edwardo said the long arm of football was reaching every country in the world.

“Even here in Darwin where we will hold the seventh Refugee Cup the game of football is a great leveller,’’ he told the NT News.

“We want everyone to participate and enjoy the magnetism of football and on Australia Day there will be people from the Pacific Islands, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia, all of them playing and loving the interaction of football.’’

Edwardo said every side will play at least three games, meaning they will get 60 minutes of hard, competitive football on a great day for the game.

The Refugee World Cup celebrates the lives of hundreds of refugees and migrants who have left their homes and loved ones behind in deciding to come to the Territory for a better future.