Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
Players wait before entering the field prior to the final women's game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Young fans arrive to attend the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Substitutes watch the players during the women's final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Substitutes watch the players during the women's final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Team of Malian heritage sing the national anthem during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Players challenge during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Fans watch the players during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Players challenge during the women's final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Former Mali and Paris Saint-Germain player Sammy Traore, center, coaches his players during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Senegal's head coach Aliou Cisse arrives to attend the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Fans cheer the players during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Young fans attend the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Substitutes and fans from Mali watch the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Congolese fans enter the pitch after Congo defeated Mali during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Congolese fans enter the pitch after Congo defeated Mali during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots in blue, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
CRETEIL, France (AP) — 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.
Players with Congolese heritage beat a team with Malian roots 5-4 on Saturday in the one-month tournament's final match, held at the home stadium of a third-division French team in the Paris suburb of Creteil. The final was broadcast live on Prime Video.
The event competition grew out of local tournaments modeled after the African Cup of Nations that have been held in recent years in suburbs and towns across France where former immigrants with African backgrounds have lived for years or generations. This tournament, however was broader, and international in scope.
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 tournament, which was launched in 2019, challenges the French ideal of a colorblind republic that doesn’t count or identify people by race or ethnic background. The ideal was intended to provide equal opportunity by treating everyone as simply French; in practice, people in places like Creteil experience discrimination and ethnic tensions daily.
“We are Afro-descendants, we are claiming our roots and we are proud," said tournament founder Moussa Sow, who works at the Red Cross and grew up in a Creteil neighborhood with a tough reputation. "It’s not because we carry this heritage that we are going to erase our French identity.”
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.
“We have players who have two or three nationalities. It is a strength for us, a richness,” Sow told The Associated Press.
Sow witnessed firsthand the growing tensions among young people divided into rival groups according to which quarter of Creteil they were from, and wanted to gather inhabitants around the love of soccer and a celebration of cultural heritage.
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.
Traoré and Diamé both made it to the top level in soccer and both grew up in Creteil, providing an example to young people that success is within their reach, too.
“I started my first training here when I was 7. I considered people from this neighborhood as brothers,” Diamé told the AP. “This feels like a pro tournament. We have a group chat, we support each other, we are determined.”
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.
“I am happy and proud, despite the anxious climate in France, to see people of different generations gathering,” Sow said.
Even though the tournament is strictly amateur, the technical level among players was good. At last weekend's semifinals, high-quality cross-field passes and clever dribbles were cheered by the crowd. Some scouts were on the sidelines, sensing an opportunity to recruit talented young players.
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.
But these same areas have also carried and been scarred by a rough reputation.
At the end of May, some far-right politicians blamed young people from the suburbs for violence outside the Champions League final at Stade de France in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. They were widely accused of vandalism, disruption of public safety and fraud.
Sow stressed that despite many people being suspicious of young people from the suburbs, where poverty and minority populations are concentrated in France, the tournament in Creteil has gone well. Defeats have been accepted with grace, and fans who have run onto the field after wins have been joyous rather than violent.
The mayor of Creteil supports the events, and a newly elected parliament member for the district, Clémence Guetté of the left-wing parliamentary coalition NUPES, came to the semifinals. Guetté called it a “unifying” event that promoted “beautiful values” that sport generates.
Diamé, who made around 240 Premier League appearances, has never let that take him away from his roots.
"No matter if you are Black, white, or Asian, everyone is welcome,” he told the AP. “Children, parents, grandparents, uncles or aunts. Everyone is here to enjoy a pure moment of pleasure.”
This story has been corrected to show that Moussa Sow works at the Red Cross, and isn't a soccer player.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
The House Jan. 6 committee held a surprise hearing Tuesday delivering alarming new testimony about Donald Trump’s actions that day. Witness Cassidy Hutchinson is a lesser-known former White House aide who had proximity to power as an adviser to the then-president and his chief of staff Mark Meadows. She rebuffed Trump’s team warnings against testifying and provided firsthand knowledge of what she saw and heard in the run-up to the insurrection. She described an angry and defiant Trump who ignored repeated warnings against summoning the mob to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then refused to intervene to stop the violence as rioters laid siege.
President Joe Biden says the U.S. is enhancing its military presence in Europe for the long haul to bolster regional security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden outlined the plan during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the alliance's annual leaders' summit in Madrid. Biden says “NATO is strong and united." He says steps taken at the summit will augment its “collective strength.” Biden says the U.S. will establish a permanent headquarters in Poland and send two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the United Kingdom. The U.S. is also sending more air defense and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.
Two of Congress’ staunchest conservatives repelled more centrist challengers to lock up Republican nominations on Tuesday. That happened even as the party’s voters chose to turn out a six-term incumbent in Mississippi. Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller, who called the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a “historic victory for white life” during a weekend rally with former President Donald Trump — her spokesperson said she misspoke — defeated fellow GOP incumbent Rodney Davis. Another Trump ally, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of Congress’ most polarizing members, easily beat back a challenge from a more mainstream Republican. Mississippi Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo, a six-term incumbent, lost to Sheriff Mike Ezell.
Two years after completing a White House summer internship, Cassidy Hutchinson was in the room where the president’s top aides debated how they could overturn his election loss. The former aide to chief of staff Mark Meadows testified Tuesday at a surprise hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. Hutchinson disclosed new details about what Meadows and former President Donald Trump knew about possible violence at the Jan. 6 rally. She testified that she heard Trump demand that attendees not be screened, saying, “I don’t effing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me.”
Renewed efforts are underway to publicly investigate and possibly discipline two New Mexico attorneys that represented the Donald Trump campaign and helped challenge local results of the 2020 presidential election in the weeks prior to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. A group of attorneys including former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez on Thursday asked the state Supreme Court to intervene and ensure an investigation in public view into possible violations of professional standards. The state’s chief disciplinary counsel has twice declined requests for a public investigation. Now-President Joe Biden won the 2020 vote in New Mexico by about 11 percentage points.
Four Republican candidates for governor have squared off in a raucous debate for the first and only time ahead of the Aug. 2 primary. Development attorney Karrin Taylor Robson called for leaving behind the 2020 election and focusing on the future. Former news anchor Kari Lake doubled down on the lie that former President Donald Trump lost because of fraud. The race is taking clearer shape with one week to go before early voting begins. Polling has shown Lake leading for the entirety of the campaign, but former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon’s decision this week to drop out and endorse Robson could shake things up.
The latest testimony about the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has Donald Trump rebuffing his own security’s warnings about armed protesters in the crowd gathering for a rally near the White House. A former White House aide also tells the House committee investigating the attack that Trump desperately attempted to join his supporters as they marched to the Capitol. In her testimony Tuesday, Cassidy Hutchinson described an angry, defiant president who grabbed at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when the Secret Service refused to allow him go to the Capitol. Trump has dismissed her as “a total phony.”
Israel’s parliament has voted to dissolve itself, triggering the country’s fifth election in just over three years. The vote Thursday thrusts veteran politician Yair Lapid into the role of interim prime minister. He will try to persuade a deeply polarized nation to embrace his centrist vision. Polls indicate it will be a difficult road for Lapid to defeat his main rival, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is a divisive figure who is at the heart of Israel’s protracted political crisis. Lapid is a former author, newspaper columnist and TV host, and was the architect of the outgoing coalition government. As with the previous four elections, the upcoming vote promises to be another referendum on Netanyahu. The election is set for Nov. 1.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new state law ending arrests for loitering for prostitution. The issue divided sex workers and advocates during a rare nine-month delay since state lawmakers passed the bill last year. Newsom noted Friday that the bill does not legalize prostitution. It revokes provisions that he says have led to disproportionate harassment of women and transgender adults. The measure also will allow those who were previously convicted to ask a court to seal the record of conviction. Some law enforcement groups say the repeal will make it harder both to confront those who commit crimes related to prostitution and human trafficking and to help those being victimized.
Abortion, guns and religion _ a major change in the law in any one of these areas would have made for a fateful Supreme Court term. In its first full term together, the court’s conservative majority ruled in all three and issued other significant decisions limiting the government’s regulatory powers. And it has signaled no plans to slow down. With three appointees of former President Donald Trump in their 50s, the six-justice conservative majority seems poised to keep control of the court for years to come, if not decades. Its remaining opinions issued, the court began its summer recess Thursday, and the justices will next return to the courtroom in October.
Players wait before entering the field prior to the final women's game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Young fans arrive to attend the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Substitutes watch the players during the women's final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Substitutes watch the players during the women's final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Team of Malian heritage sing the national anthem during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Players challenge during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Fans watch the players during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Players challenge during the women's final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Former Mali and Paris Saint-Germain player Sammy Traore, center, coaches his players during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Senegal's head coach Aliou Cisse arrives to attend the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Fans cheer the players during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Young fans attend the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Substitutes and fans from Mali watch the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage in yellow against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Congolese fans enter the pitch after Congo defeated Mali during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Congolese fans enter the pitch after Congo defeated Mali during the final game of the national cup of working-class neighborhoods betwwen a team representing players with Malian heritage against one with Congolese roots in blue, in Creteil, outside Paris, France, Saturday, July 2, 2022. This amateur tournament aims to celebrate the diversity of youth from low-income communities with high immigrant populations, areas long stigmatized by some observers and politicians as a breeding ground for crime, riots, and Islamic extremism.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.