Sudan, football and the ‘worst humanitarian crisis on earth’ (Adam Leventhal, Nov 24, 2024, The Athletic)
Football pitches around Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, and in the neighbouring city of Omdurman have been used as burial grounds for the dead rather than games. The 19-month conflict has caused what is, according to the United Nations, “the worst humanitarian crisis on earth”.
“The numbers are so large that you can’t even get your head around the scale of human suffering,” the United States’ special envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, told reporters this week. “The numbers are astronomical…(and) the death toll is probably more than anything that’s been estimated.”
People from Sudan have found themselves fighting for peace but also for attention, as conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine dominate headlines.
Sudan’s football team have been forced into a nomadic existence, playing “home” games in South Sudan (which became its own nation in 2011), Mauritania, Saudi Arabia and Libya. But they have achieved remarkable results: Sudan have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) starting in Morocco in December 2025 and are top of their group competing to reach the World Cup, a tournament they have never played in before, in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026.