Telenor remains general sponsor of the Team of Hope social project

For a sixth consecutive year Telenor will be general sponsor of the Team of Hope project for social integration of underprivileged young people, the company’s Corporate Responsibility Expert Desislava Danova announced. The project is part of the international initiative of the Homeless World Cup foundation.

“Telenor supports the Team of Hope ever since its launch in 2011. In six years the initiative gave an opportunity to hundreds of young people to become more confident and to improve their way of living. We believe that Team of Hope not only has a positive impact on the participants, but also that it has become an institution that helps the whole society through reducing inequality in the country”, Mrs. Danova said.

The new ambassadors of Team of Hope are rhythmic gymnast Neviana Vladinova and film director Niki Iliev. The new team coach is Kiril Kyulev.

“In a few days Sofia will host the European Street Football Festival for underprivileged people”, announced Viktor Kirkov, manager of the team. The tournament will take place in the period of May 25-28, 2017, in front of Knyazhevo garden – the space around the monument of the Soviet Army. It will be attended by a total of 12 teams – 8 foreign, 3 Bulgarian and a team of refugees. The participants in the festival will also be involved in a number of social activities, trainings and workshops such as a visit to New Boyana Film Studios with Niki Iliev, suggestopedia courses in Bulgarian for basic rules and terms in football, physical training at the National Sports Academy (NSA), etc.

In April 2017 a series of football tournaments began in various parts of the country. They target both young people living in institutions for children deprived of parental care, and underserved groups. After the end of the tournament period, the ‘Team of Hope’ coach Kiril Kyulev will select the players who will be part of the Bulgarian national homeless football team that will represent our country at the Homeless World Cup in Oslo, Norway from August 29 to September 5. The Team of Hope project is organized by Sports Management Bulgaria.

The team will participate in the world tournament for the sixth time with its best ranking being in 2015 in Amesterdam where it ranked 9th among a total of 47 teams. A year later, the Team of Hope ranked 17th in Glasgow and won the Bowl trophy.