Happy Football Cambodia Australia charity organisation is hosting a five-a-side fundraising event on April 6 to help raise funds for their annual excursion to the Homeless Football World Cup, which this year will be held in the Polish city of Poznan from August 10-18.

Held at Beeline Arena and named the 2013 Credit Bureau Cambodia (CBC) Charity Cup, 10 local sides will take part in a day’s competition hoping to put on a good show.

“Part of our program is to raise awareness of homelessness in Cambodia. It’s a very worthy cause, and a great day out for family and friends. The Beeline Arena is a great venue as well,” HFCA head coach Jimmy Campbell told the Post yesterday.

“It gets quite serious – obviously teams want to win – but we try to keep it friendly and fun.”

The teams taking part this year are Alex Allstars, Emaxx, Ezecom, KPMG, Laughing Lizard, Wine, Mad Monkey, Metro, Paddy Rice and Wing.

This year’s Fair Play Award is sponsored by H20 Media, with Emaxx sponsoring the Most Valuable Player.

The first game kicks off at 9am with the final scheduled for 3pm. Entry is free and spectators can also acquire food and beverages on site.

Last year’s title winners, PP Celtic, have not entered this year, so a new name will be etched on the trophy. All proceeds on the day go towards HFCA’s dedication to improving the lives of disadvantaged youths through football.

Campbell has initiated the first big step in raising the $15,000 needed to pay for the Cambodian players’ visas, passports and flights to attend the 11th edition of the global tournament, which is set to feature sides from 64 nations.

HFCA has sent different squads to participate at each of the past five Homeless World Cups, including trips to Melbourne, Milan, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City and Paris. 

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY H S MANJUNATH