TRT World
Tuesday January 16, 2018
Organisers of a football tournament say the league is helping Somali refugees in Uganda steer from drug addiction and forget their troubled past.
Violence and unrest have forced hundreds of thousands of Somalis to flee their country.
Many have ended up in Uganda, where some refugees are looking to forget their troubled past through a football league.
More than 15,000 Somali refugees live in Kampala and most are unemployed.
For the league's organisers, the goal is to steer young men away from trouble.
"It will help to abstain from drug addiction ... most of our people always end up chewing this and they lose their future ... some are now even looking to become professional," said Yahye Esse, a Somali Futsal organiser.
The league is in its first month and everybody seems to be getting a kick out of it.
"Football is life. if you like it you come here and you watch and we enjoy it. It is good for us," said Ibrahim Abdullahi, a fan.