LIMA, Peru: It is a cold morning under lead-gray skies, but the fans who have trooped to Lima’s El Porvenir neighborhood are hot to start the Little World Cup — their annual street soccer championship.
To score good seats, people camp out the night before, lining the road where the games have packed the streets every May 1 for a half century. Others pay the equivalent of $2 for a balcony view from apartment buildings to catch the games that Peruvians also call “The People’s Party.”
The working-class neighborhood ritual in El Porvenir began in the 1950s as a challenge to the Manuel Odria military dictatorship when playing in the streets was forbidden.
The tournament has been a big focus for Peruvian fans for a while, because the country’s national team has not qualified to play in international soccer’s World Cup since 1982.
“Here they play no holds barred. This is for ‘machos’ and it’s crazy to be a referee,” said one fan, Teodoro Aquino, who was sipping beer with friends before the day’s first game. Aquino has attended the championship for four decades in his crime-ridden corner of the capital.
All 56 teams bring along their most fervent fans to defend each goal, and disputes can come to blows, so about 50 anti-riot police officers guarded the asphalt pitch at this year’s competition. Police beat back fans trying to invade the field during breaks between games and vendors worked the crowd selling gelatin and baked potatoes.
The referees get special protection since half the spectators never agree with a call and the most disgruntled are apt to throw bottles and chicken bones. But the referees do not mince their words and seem to be immune to pressure coming from the stands.
Players stop to pray before entering the pitch and fans light flares from the sidelines.
At the end of the day, after 30 games, the team from the capital’s Purito Barrios Altos neighborhood took home this year’s trophy, a $2,500 cash prize and 12 pairs of soccer cleats. One supporter of the winning team threatened rival fans who challenged the final result as he trotted around showing off his team’s trophy.
Street soccer tournament packs Lima neighborhood
Street soccer tournament packs Lima neighborhood
Inaugural Kidzink Pearl Cup wraps up at Dubai Offshore Club
- Sailors aged 8-18 competed in the Optimist Coached, Optimist, ILCA 4, 29er and RS Feva classes
DUBAI: The inaugural Kidzink Pearl Cup wrapped up in Dubai after welcoming more than 100 youth sailors from 17 countries for one of the Middle East’s first international open youth sailing regattas.
Held from Dec. 15-21 at Dubai Offshore Sailing Club with the support of Dubai Sports Council, the Kidzink Pearl Cup brought together sailors aged 8-18 to compete in the Optimist Coached, Optimist, ILCA 4, 29er and RS Feva classes.
Backed by global educational design company Kidzink as title sponsor and strategic partner, the event combined four days of competitive racing with ideal windy conditions, with three days of Olympic-level coaching delivered by an international coaching team, giving young sailors the chance to train and race in competitive and challenging conditions alongside peers from different countries and sailing cultures.
The young sailors also took part in interactive onshore sessions developed with Kidzink’s research team, with the event putting the focus on leadership, inclusivity and clean-water awareness.
Charlotte Borghesi, founder and general manager of Kidzink, said: “The energy throughout the week was incredible. You could see learning happening in real time, friendships forming on the dock and young sailors growing in confidence every day.
The Kidzink Pearl Cup is about more than racing, it’s about creating an environment where young people feel inspired, supported and excited to learn.”
A two-time world champion sailor herself, Borghesi brings first-hand experience to the event, having made history in 2023 as the first female helmswoman to win the SB20 World Championship, followed by her team’s victory at the SB20 Women’s World Sailing Championship in Singapore in 2025.
Alongside the racing program, sailors took part in Kidzink’s interactive learning sessions. The UAE sessions built on work first piloted at the Kidzink-supported 29er Class European and World Championships earlier this year.
Local talent featured strongly throughout the week, with members of the DOSC racing squad lining up alongside international competitors. Among them were 14-year-old Chloe Montanet and 12-year-old Edward West.
In the Optimist Coached fleet, first place was claimed by Lev Ryashin (RUS), followed by Matteo Bertucci (ITA) in second and Gonzalo Montero (ESP) in third.
In the Optimist class Jean-Luc Herve (UAE) topped the podium, followed by Xuan Ya Tong (KSA) in second, and Miquel Rossello-Collinge (ESP) rounding out the podium.
The ILCA 4 title went to Fynley Britton (GBR), with Indraneel Roy (IND), and Katyayani Kaushik (IND) completing the podium.
In the 29er fleet, Dominic West and Fynley Britton took top honours, followed by Lily Britton and Matteo Gardenghi in second place with Noah Fisk and Alex Simmonds third.
The RS Feva Coached podium consisted of Ameya Rahul Nair and Arya Khanna in first, Miles Wilson-Brown and Noah Kahlon second, and Finlay Henderson and Rayan Abdallah third.
“Our work in sailing reflects our broader mission to design and create educational environments and experiences where young people thrive,” Borghesi added. “The Kidzink Pearl Cup is just the beginning of much more to come.”
