SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The 2024 Homeless World Cup kicked off in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Saturday, marking the first time the event has ever been held in Asia.

Held each year since 2003, the event bills itself as helping participants change their lives for the better through football, while also challenging society’s perceptions of those experiencing homelessness.

This year’s edition features 52 teams from 38 countries worldwide, according to local organisers, and got under way Saturday on the main pitch at Seoul’s Hanyang University.

This is the tourney’s first outing since Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) signed an agreement in August to partner with the Homeless World Cup Foundation in organising it.

“FIFA is excited to contribute, because we share the view of the Homeless World Cup Foundation that football is a force for good,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said via Instagram last month.

Under the agreement, FIFA is providing medals and trophies, and broadcasting the event on its streaming platform FIFA+.

The Big Issue Korea, one of the local organisers, said a goal of the event was to “raise awareness among the residents of the host city about the issue of housing rights”.

The organisation hopes the tournament will help “broaden the scope of policies related to homelessness in South Korea and address the lack of mandatory support measures”, Ahn Byung-hun, its executive director, told AFP.

The South Korean team is made up of eight players from diverse backgrounds, including an individual with disabilities, an asylum seeker and a teenager living in a shelter.

The event will be open to the public free of charge, and runs until September 28th.