It is a hot day in Pantin, the suburb to the north-east of Paris. Under the blazing sun, two football teams are gathering for a tournament. The atmosphere is jubilant: despite the heatwave, the lads are raring to go. Les Gars de la Ville are playing against Melting Passes today. Both teams consist largely of young men who arrived in France as unaccompanied refugee minors.
“It’s not easy for a refugee without the right papers to be accepted into a traditional football team,” says Nathanael Koehler (36). He is the programme director of Les Gars de la Ville, which is part of the Serve the City foundation. This organisation supports asylum seekers, the homeless and refugees. “Teams like this are very important, because they offer the lads a permanent, safe place where they can be themselves.”
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