7 hours ago
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Senior Multimedia Reporter
An Initiative to ease the tension in the John John community, also aimed at bringing back the love and comfort, is well on the way.
The 2J Icon Cup FIFA Street Football Tournament got underway just over a week ago, and it is believed it would convince people to visit the John John community with comfort to view football at nights.
The tournament carries a winner-takes-all cash prize of $20,000 which follows a round-robin playoff that will run for six weeks, into the quarterfinals, semifinals, and then the final, which will take another two weeks.
Key organiser Djalminha Mulraine has joined forces with other members of the John John community to make the event a reality.
Mulraine, a footballer himself and the son of former national midfielder Travis Mulraine, told Guardian Media Sports about how they came up with the tournament. “You know, John John was an area that had a lot of small goal competitions in the past, and it had stopped for a very, very long time. So we just came together along with some other people to throw this tournament so people could feel more comfortable and have something to come out to in the area at night and enjoy the football and stuff. You know, people from other areas are welcome to come into the area to watch the football,” Mulraine explained.
The tournament comprises four groups of five teams. Mulraine, quizzed on what they’ve done to ensure people’s safety, said, “That’s why we came up with the football, you know, so people will know that it’s football they’re coming to watch; there’s nothing else. We have nothing else going on in the area.”
“It’s really to show people that the community is more than what people say it is, than what people think about it. It’s a community with love. The tournament is an example of that. We have plenty of support from everyone in the area, and it’s just for people to know that it’s a safe area, that they could come and enjoy themselves and have fun and nothing.”
He added, “People think that because they hear the name John John Laventille, it’s a bad area, but it’s more than that. There are a lot of good people in the area, you know, and a lot of positive things could come out of the area as well.”
The John John community is one of many so-called depressed areas in T&T and, in particular, the Port-of-Spain areas, which connect to neighbouring environments such as Laventille, Trou Macaque, St Paul Street, Beetham Gardens, Sea Lots, St Barb’s, and Morvant etc, which have been at war for many years.
It follows the recent East-West Corridor Football League, which was held to combat the social ills plaguing communities across T&T. This league was conceptualised by Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs David Nakhid and is set to be a fixture on the local football calendar.
English (US) ·