|PIC1|Footballer and “Match of the Day” presenter Gary Lineker kicked off a game with a difference last evening at the launch of the Street Child World Cup.

The project will bring teams of street children from around the world to play in a football tournament to raise the profile of their human rights.

Lineker said, “It is great that the Street Child World Cup will use this game, which is loved all over the world, to help give kids a fairer deal. No child should have to be on the streets, so if football can be a part of making a difference, that’s fantastic.”

Teams of street children from eight countries across Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe will compete in the football tournament that will be hosted in South Africa during March 2010, before the FIFA World Cup.

Jenny Dawkins, project co-ordinator, commented, “Typically, hunger, neglect and violence force children onto the streets, and hunger, neglect and violence meet them there. Children participating in the Street Child World Cup will be given opportunities to challenge parliamentarians, decision-makers and the media from their own countries about every child’s human rights.”

|QUOTE|Other professional footballers that attended the launch event included Vikash Dharasoo and Julian Speroni.

England and Arsenal player Theo Walcott has added his support, saying, “I’ve played football as a teenager with the world watching me. The Street Child World Cup is a brilliant project which will help hundreds of thousands of teenagers who live on the streets by getting the world to listen to them and give them a fair chance.”

The Street Child World Cup is being co-ordinated by a network of organisations led by Christian human rights charity Amos Trust. The project is also being supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has said he is proud that the first Street Child World Cup will be held in South Africa.