A ball, a pitch, dozens of smiling faces. They provided the T-shirts, the trophies and the chicken and rice we tucked into with our fingers once the inevitable penalty shootout had concluded.įor nearly three hours, only football mattered.
The tournament, which featured four teams comprised of migrant workers, trade unionists and a journalist, was organised by Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), a federation of construction unions, and FIFPro, the global footballers’ union. She played left-back for the winning team in the inaugural edition of the Migrant Workers’ Cup in Doha last week and The Athletic’s representative can vouch for her nickname: he lined up against her. No, this ‘Marcelo’ is a Kenyan guest worker in Qatar. This Marcelo is not the Real Madrid left-back and captain, the 33-year-old Brazilian who has won four Champions League titles and been named to the Dream Team at the last two World Cups. “OK, the best player award for tonight goes to… Marcelo!” “Can anyone guess who it is? What do we think? A lady or a gentleman? A lady? Really? Are you sure? “And now, the award for the best player,” the organiser of the tournament says, clutching a plastic trophy that looks a bit like the World Cup.
