MORE than 2,000 people watched the first Hull and East Yorkshire World Cup in glorious sunshine.

The event has been hailed a huge success and a step forward in bringing the region's diverse communities together.

People from 20 nationalities living in East Yorkshire took part in the football tournament at the University Of Hull's sports ground in Inglemire Lane, north Hull, on Saturday.

The Kurdish team lifted the trophy after beating Iraq 1-0 in the final.

Despite historic conflicts between the two groups, both teams said they were delighted to see two Iraqi teams in the final.

The Kurdish manager, Bilal Qassad, said his team had trained every day for three weeks leading up to the event.

After winning the cup, he invited the entire team and their families to a Kurdish restaurant in Spring Bank, west Hull, to celebrate.

He said: "It was a brilliant day and we made lots of friends from different cultures."

The seven-a-side teams played four matches each in the group stages, with eight teams winning their way through to the quarter finals.

Brazil and Ghana lost out to the Kurdish and Iraqi teams in the semi-finals.

Iraq's manager, Bassam Alshamari, said they were happy to see the Kurdish team – from Iraq's Kurdistan region – take first place.

He said: "It was a very good day and we played some good teams. We liked playing with people of different cultures. Next year, we will hopefully play better and win."

He said they had already arranged to play teams such as Sudan and the Democratic Republic Of Congo in friendly matches.

He said: "I think this was a very good idea and I would like to thank everybody who organised this.

"It was a very positive thing for Hull to bring everyone together."

The event was the brainchild of John Marshall, of the west Hull charity the Goodwin Development Trust.

He said: "It could not have gone better. There was such sportsmanship and camaraderie among the teams and people from all different countries were mixing and talking to each other about their cultures.

"We are so proud of everyone who took part.

"Sport proved to be a great way to bring everyone together."

Mr Marshall said the event would be held next year and that 300 teams had already expressed an interest in taking part.

Billy Bell, another of the tournament organisers, said: "It was a brilliant day. I took hundreds of photographs on the day and there is a smile on everyone's face.

"The Ghanaian team and their fans in particular had a party all day. They were singing and dancing like they had won the competition."

Links

Goodwin Development Trust

www.goodwintrust.org

Hull and East Yorkshire World Cup

www.goodwintrust.org