World Footy News

The 2010 Harmony Cup is fast approaching, with eight teams running out onto the Whitten Oval this Sunday. Among them will be Greece, Italy, Albania, Indonesia, India-Sri Lanka, Israel, and a team drawn from Melbourne's Lebanese community.

With the withdrawal of Team Africa, the eighth side on the day will be playing under the name "Team Harmony", a combined team including players from all cultural backgrounds, including PNG's former AFL star Mal Michael.

Although Sydney is the Australian city more often associated with Lebanese immigration, the Melbourne Lebanese community has produced a few high-profile members, including footy stars Mil Hanna and Bachar Houli, and previous Victorian state premier Steve Bracks. At a suburban footy level, Lebanese players have made a huge impact and can be found at clubs right across Melbourne.

Coordinating the Team Lebanon is Maan Soufan, who previously played with Lebanon at the 2005 Multicultural Cup. Soufan spoke with WFN about the Lebanese team's preparations.

Maan says the team had a positive experience at the 2005 event and were happy to be part of the new-look Harmony Cup this year. "We enjoyed ourselves in 2005, and (tournament director) Brian Clarke invited us back this year."

The squad has had a massive response in its recruitment drive, with sixty-two players nominating to be part of the final list of thirty. These players come from clubs right across Melbourne, including a number from clubs such as Northcote Park, West Coburg and Hadfield, located in the northern suburbs most often associated with the Victorian Lebanese community. Players have also come from clubs elsewhere in the metropolitan area, such as St Kilda City, the Moorabbin Kangaroos and Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges.

Maan mentions that one surprise recruit has been Luke Jarjoura (pictured at left), a third-generation Australian-Lebanese who was on the Sydney Swans list a few years back. "Luke's a great story. To look at him, you'd think he was an Aussie, red hair and freckles, but his grandfather came to Australia from Lebanon in 1950 and he's actually now trying to retrace his Lebanese heritage. We've got him in contact with the Consul-General of Lebanon to help out with him finding out more. And he's a superstar footballer!"

The two AFL players most often associated with Lebanon, former Carlton star Mil Hanna and current Bomber Bachar Houli, are both involved with the side and will be in attendance on Sunday, even if not on-field.

"Mil was going to play up, right up until injuring his back last night! We'll see how he goes, if his back loosens up he'll play. If not, he'll still be there to help out with things like coaching."

"Bachar has also been supporting us, on February 28th we were part of Hypfest at Federation Square, which is a Lebanese community event. There was about 30,000 who came to the event through the day and we were a major part of it. Bachar was there, Brian Clarke talked a bit about the event, and we had all the players there in their team polo shirts. We got a lot of questions from the crowd and a lot of interest, and were able to promote the event a lot."

Maan says the final squad also reflects the diverse community in Lebanon, with players from a number of different religious backgrounds to present a united front on-field. "There are something like 18 different religious communities in Lebanon, and we have players from almost all of them."

He also explains that the squad are interested in getting more involved in promoting Australian football in Lebanon, something which others attempted unsuccessfully a few years ago. "There was effort some put into this in the past, but as far as I know, it didn't happen."

"We're meeting with the Lebanese Consulate-General tonight to talk about this. In Lebanon you have to go about things the right way, you have to get through a lot of red tape. But hopefully we might be able to start looking at getting into school curriculums or something along those lines... A lot of us have family abroad in Lebanon and it's also about promoting footy among that group."

Maan has played football at the Moorabbin Kangaroos with Mick Roberts, a former AFL Samoa development officer who now works for AFL club Richmond. The Moorabbin Kangaroos became a central club for involving Samoans living in Melbourne with Australian rules football, and Soufan says there have been efforts to create a similar club for the Middle Eastern migrant community.

"We have in the past looked at a community club for the Lebanese and Middle Eastern community, a few years ago we basically set up a team as the third senior side from Dandenong West, and they played a few matches but it fell away again. We'll look at hopefully restarting this again next year."

Even without the former AFL players some of the other sides will have on display, the Lebanese bring a wealth of experience from some of Melbourne's toughest suburban leagues and will be very hard to beat.

Team Lebanon's major sponsors are Hairhouse Warehouse, Advanced Natural and Zeal Solutions. Anyone wanting to contact them can do so via their Facebook page. The Harmony Cup will kick off at 9am this Sunday, March 21st, at Whitten Oval, Footscray - home of the AFL's Western Bulldogs. Entry $10, draw and further details available at harmonycup.com.