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- [00:00]
Adam Leventhal
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- [01:22]
Raj Panjabi
Hi, I'm Raj Panjabi from HuffPost.
- [01:24]
Noah Michaelson
And I'm Noah Michaelson, also from HuffPost.
- [01:26]
Raj Panjabi
And we're the hosts of Am I Doing It Wrong? A new podcast that explores the all too human anxieties we have about trying to get our lives right. Each week on the podcast, Raj and I pick a new topic that we want to understand better and bring a guest expert on to talk us through how to get it right. And we're talking like legit credible experts, doctors, PhDs all around superheroes from HuffPost and Acast Studios. Check out Am I Doing It Wrong?
- [01:50]
Unknown
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- [02:48]
Adam Leventhal
The Athletic FC Podcast Network this is.
- [02:53]
Unknown
A special episode of the Athletic FC podcast. It contains content some listeners may find distressing. What Sudan's men's national team have achieved is remarkable. Not only have they qualified for the next Africa cup of nations against the odds, they also top their group in World cup qualifying, a tournament they've never been to. What makes it so unexpected? They are footballing nomads unable to play at home. Since April 2023, Sudan in the northeast of Africa has been engulfed in a bitter civil war between the national army and a breakaway faction, the Rapid Support Forces, or rsf.
- [03:47]
Mazin Abousin
There were hundreds of bodies sprayed all over the street.
- [03:52]
Unknown
As many as 150,000 people have been killed, according to US estimates.
- [03:58]
Raj Panjabi
The massacres that the RSF are doing.
- [03:59]
Noah Michaelson
I just can' describe the thing that they're doing.
- [04:03]
Unknown
14 million people have been forced from their homes. It's the world's worst displacement crisis, according to the United Nations.
- [04:11]
Noah Michaelson
I know the world's attention is, for all the right reasons, is focused on the conflict in Middle east, for example in Ukraine. So this is to a large extent a hidden or forgotten war.
- [04:24]
Unknown
Famine has been declared in one region of Sudan, putting the lives of hundreds of thousands more, including children, under grave threat.
- [04:34]
The journey was incredibly difficult. Some of us perished along the way, while others managed to survive and make it here.
- [04:42]
I'm Adam Levanthal from the Athletic welcome to Sudan Football and the Forgotten War.
- [04:54]
Foreign.
- [05:02]
I've come to spend time with the Sudan team during this pivotal November international break to find out how they've met the emotional and logistical challenge of being displaced like so many of their fellow citizens and at the same time managed to deliver results on the pitch. Many of the squad have played on, exceeded expectations and managed to inspire a nation whilst grieving for family and friends that have been lost in the conflict at home. But this isn't just a story of the national team. Sudan is a proud footballing country and the sport plays a key role for so many, even while adversity and tragedy dominates. So this is what the Sudan team have got used to. You may just be able to hear them arriving for training behind me. They play all of their games away from home now. Right now we're in Morocco, where the 2025 Afcon is going to be hosted. It's actually the first nation that they turned to for help after the start of the war 18 months ago and it's one of the five countries that they've used as a temporary home. Whilst games can't be played in the capital Khartoum or neighboring city Omdurman, they've also hosted games in South Sudan, which became a separate nation in 2011. Mauritania in the west of Africa, Saudi Arabia, which is across the Red Sea to the northeast of Sudan, and Libya, which is over the border to the northwest to the city of Benghazi, where they picked up their most eye catching result in AFCON qualifying. They beat Ghana 2 nil, the four time AFCON champions who played at the most recent Qatar World Cup. They featured familiar Premier League names like West Ham's Mohamed Kudus, Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo and Leicester's Jordan. Aye. That result meant that all Sudan needed was one more point to qualify for afcon.
- [07:20]
Noah Michaelson
It's an honor to be captain of Sudan, representing the whole country during this difficult time. Sudan, for me is the motherland.
- [07:29]
Unknown
It is everything that's Captain Ramadan Ajab, 35 years old, 75 caps, the most experienced player and leader of the team.
- [07:43]
Noah Michaelson
Trying to make a nation happy is an emotion I cannot express. When we're with the national team and think about what's happening in Sudan, it gives us the courage to give our best and to try and make the people happier. It's a huge responsibility because when you give today, the demands go higher to give more. We are really feeling it as players.
- [08:03]
Unknown
Ajab leads the team in a ritual before every training session. I'm just watching them all line up now. He calls them to attention and then there's that silence and those three claps that you just heard signals. Them switching on and leaving everything else to one side.
- [08:27]
Noah Michaelson
It's a very difficult thing to be away from home all the time with club and country. All your life, emotions and thoughts are back in Sudan. But we know we have a job to do. It's important for our careers and for the country in this situation, so we must deal with it.
- [08:46]
Unknown
And sometimes that means dealing with the worst possible news. Many in this squad, some of the support staff as well, have received calls or messages from home that those close to them have been lost.
- [09:02]
Noah Michaelson
Everyone has been affected by the war, some more than others. We're trying to be together as one body. When we find out that one of the players has been affected by the war, we come together to talk. We try to make him feel comfortable, we try to support him in the very difficult times.
- [09:20]
Unknown
Well above the captain in leading the process of wrapping arms around the players that are grieving and motivating them in adversity is the coach.
- [09:31]
Raj Panjabi
My name is James Kwasi Abia. The head coach or the manager of Sudan national team.
- [09:38]
Unknown
How much do you know about how much difficulty those players have had with their families, with their loved ones, with their friends back at home? Presumably they. Some have. Have lost friends and family.
- [09:53]
Raj Panjabi
Yeah. Most of the time when we are in camp, the message will come that bless our Lord, your family member, and it just happened about five times. You have to go and console him. They tell me a lot also once in camp. So these are one of the things that I thought, look, why can't we all do something to let these guys achieve so that at least the people back home will be happy? And take the match against Ghana, for instance. I told them, look, all your parents, your family members will be out there in Sudan putting their guns down and watching this game. This is the time to make them happy.
- [10:38]
Unknown
Appiah, who used to captain and manage his home nation of Ghana, has had a profound impact. They've only lost 2 of 10 major tournament qualifying games. They're top and unbeaten as they aim for the 2026 World cup ahead of more familiar footballing nations like Senegal and Dr. Congo. Having won three of four matches and their second place finish to make next year's AFCON is only the fourth time in 25 attempts that they've made it to their continental showpiece in nature of Sudan.
- [11:13]
Raj Panjabi
When they invited me, they. I asked them what was their target and they said, oh, they want me to build their team. And I said, no, if it's just building the team, then I'm not interested. I want a target to be set for myself. So I told them, look, my target should be either qualifying for the AFCON or qualifying for the World Cup. I said, look, if you're going to follow my ambition, then let's do it, but if not, then I'm not interested.
- [11:46]
Unknown
The final November chapter of qualifying for AFCON was not straightforward for Sudan, though. In the first game, they unexpectedly lost 40 against Niger, a result which gave their opponents a chance of taking second place and qualification. Instead, Sudan played Angola in their final game. Just needing to avoid defeat, they very nearly beat the group winners.
- [12:12]
Gets the ball back brilliantly and it's.
- [12:14]
Raj Panjabi
Going to be the first goal. It's not.
- [12:15]
Unknown
I can't believe he hasn't scored.
- [12:17]
Meanwhile, Niger knew a win against Ghana would give them a chance.
- [12:22]
Noah Michaelson
Free kick comes in.
- [12:23]
Mazin Abousin
It's a good delivery and There it is.
- [12:25]
Unknown
And they did it.
- [12:26]
N snags the winner.
- [12:28]
It left Sudan nervously hanging on at the end, waiting for the final whistle. After the 00 draw was confirmed, the beIN sports commentator Ali Mohammed Ali saying, with all the hurt and pain, Sudan had brought smiles to the faces of the supporters, leading to wild celebrations in the stadium for the fans that could make it and also in the dressing room for the players.
- [13:10]
Raj Panjabi
I'm so, so, so proud of them. I've told them, look, now, because of the situation back home, you got no choice but to move around wherever we go. They should see that place as their home ground. Whether you have supporters or you don't have the most important thing is how can we achieve the ultimate?
- [13:31]
Unknown
Well, it's been a privilege to actually be up close and personal to the Sudan team and being able to watch their training sessions. And what's really jumped out to me is the focus that they've put on their fitness, the intensity of the training session. They're always covered in sweat, especially due to the heat here. But you know full well that they would much rather be doing this at home and playing their games at home. In Sudan, qualification signalled the joint biggest climb in the most recent FIFA rankings, up 10 to 110th the highest Sudan have been for nine years. They've also been nominated for team of the Year at the African Federation Awards. Last time they tried to qualify for afcon, they finished bottom of their group. Now they're a team transformed against the most difficult backdrop, united with their fans.
- [14:33]
Raj Panjabi
Due to the war in our country. These players have an obligatory to represent us in a very good manner because they hold in their shoulders the hopes of 40 million Sudanese person. They represent us worldwide.
- [14:48]
Noah Michaelson
Right now, everyone is watching the national team as if they're having their own war. They're presenting a symbol, like a symbol of freedom from the conquering of, unfortunately, the rsf, which is they're doing really bad things, really bad massacres in our people.
- [15:03]
Raj Panjabi
Each single player had their own story. They've been in the places of war, places, right? And they go to meet their family after the match.
- [15:10]
Noah Michaelson
They call the families that are in.
- [15:11]
Raj Panjabi
The workplace, the video calling and the.
- [15:13]
Noah Michaelson
People who are having a clash fighting the conquerors of rsf.
- [15:16]
Raj Panjabi
They will be talking to them and.
- [15:18]
Noah Michaelson
Showing the symbolism of how the united people are. And there's some sort of the massacres.
- [15:24]
Raj Panjabi
That the RSF are doing.
- [15:25]
Noah Michaelson
I just can't describe the thing that they're doing.
- [15:33]
Unknown
At the Adre refugee camp in Chad, which is across the border. From the Darfur region of Sudan, a woman called Jawahir can describe the shocking realities of one of those massacres blamed on the RSF conflict tore through her city of El Janina. This is her story.
- [15:57]
The RSF came to our home and they burned the entire house. The house was scorched to the ground. They shot and killed both our grandmothers inside their room and lit it on fire. Then they came after us. They killed my aunt, my uncle and my sister inside the house. They shot and injured me, my sister Fatima and my cousin. My mother and my daughter were the only ones they did not shoot. The injured ones were carried by a small single wheelbarrow and the rest of us were taken by a carriage that was manually pushed without a horse or a donkey. We stayed in El Janina Hospital for more than two months. Me, my mother, my husband and my older brother. All the other people took their injured relatives and left. We were the only ones that remained in the hospital when the RSF came, they killed any man they could find. So my mother told my husband and my older brother to leave. She told them to go with other people and leave us behind and if anything happens, they can return to check on us at night. On that same day when they left, my husband was killed. After that, my brother returned to us at the hospital at night. He carried me in a wheelbarrow and took us to a house across the street. Because the RSF might return to the hospital at any time, my brother said goodbye to me and my mother and told us to take care of ourselves. He told us we might reunite if we survive. My brother left us and went with the others. That was the last time we saw him.
- [18:08]
Now Jawahir is one of over 100,000 displaced people at the Adre camp. They carry the weight and the pain of what they've experienced. They're housed in tents and shacks with plastic tarpaulin roofs or simply fabric pulled tightly over wooden frames. Outside of those makeshift homes, many have crafted temporary stoves to cook what little they have. We'll return to the Adre camp and explain the perilous situations found in others. Amid the widespread threat of famine in areas of Sudan, almost half of the.
- [18:49]
Noah Michaelson
Population is in need of humanitarian assistance.
- [18:52]
Unknown
Will also tell you the story of Coach Rashid.
- [18:56]
Mazin Abousin
He had big dreams. He was always talking to me about that trip to FIFA where he wants to make it big and he wants to showcase Sudan.
- [19:05]
Unknown
This is a special episode of the Athletic FC podcast. Sudan Football and the Forgotten War.
- [19:18]
Raj Panjabi
Foreign.
- [19:23]
Adam Leventhal
It felt like I had to figure everything out myself, booking guests, figuring out rundowns, editing the show and publishing it. It seemed like the list of to dos got bigger and bigger and when you're starting off with something new, it seems like that just happens. Finding the right tool that not only helps you out, but simplifies everything can be such a game changer. And for millions of businesses, that tool is Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses, the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. Get started with your own design studio. With hundreds of ready to use templates, Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store to match your brand style, accelerate your content creation. Shopify is packed with helpful AI tools that write product descriptions, page headlines, and even enhance your product photography. Get the word out like you have a marketing team behind you. Easily create email and social media campaigns wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling. And best yet, Shopify is your commerce expert with world class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping to processing returns and beyond. If you're ready to sell, you're ready for Shopify. Turn your big business idea into a With Shopify on your side, sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com TheAthletic Go to shopify.com TheAthLetic shopify.com TheAthLETic.
- [20:55]
Unknown
Hi, I'm.
- [20:56]
Raj Panjabi
Raj Panjabi from HuffPost.
- [20:57]
Noah Michaelson
And I'm Noah Michaelson, also from HuffPost.
- [21:00]
Raj Panjabi
And we're the hosts of Am I Doing It Wrong? A new podcast that explores the all.
- [21:04]
Unknown
Too human anxieties we have about trying.
- [21:06]
Raj Panjabi
To get our lives right. Each week on the podcast, Raj and I pick a new topic that we want to understand better and bring a guest expert on to talk us through.
- [21:14]
Noah Michaelson
How to get it right.
- [21:15]
Raj Panjabi
And we're talking like legit credible experts, doctors, PhDs all around superheroes from HuffPost and Acast Studios. Check out Am I Doing It Wrong?
- [21:24]
Unknown
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- [22:00]
From the Athletic this is Sudan Football and the forgotten war.
- [22:12]
Raj Panjabi
The world has gained a new nation. The Sudan, for 58 years under the joint rule of Britain and Egypt becomes an independent Republic.
- [22:19]
Unknown
That was 1956.
- [22:21]
Raj Panjabi
Premier Elazari thanks Britain and Egypt for.
- [22:24]
Mazin Abousin
Giving his country freedom to work out its own destiny.
- [22:31]
Unknown
A year later, Sudan became one of three founding Afcon nations and they won the tournament in 1970. Since then, political unrest and previous civil wars Contributed to a 32 year absence with their best showing since a 2012 quarter final.
- [22:51]
Mazin Abousin
Maazin Abusin I am the head of development at Sudan Football association and I also head of the committee for Sudanese football players abroad. Sudanese people are very passionate about football, especially at a club level. But lately the national team has been creating, has been creating this kind of sense of belonging, sense of unity. Because of its success. Football as we speak today probably represents one of the great hopes for the Sudanese people to actually help them to come back, recover, bounce back after this terrible incident.
- [23:39]
Unknown
Breaking news coming in from Sudan where we're getting reports of heavy gunfire across the capital.
- [23:44]
Mazin Abousin
I was actually present in Khartoum on that particular day, 15th of April 2023. And funny enough is we were playing football Friday evening in Omdurman. It was Ramadan and usually during Ramadan, most of the community's ex footballers are involved in those community football competitions. We run that's usually run after people break their fast in the evening. So we were just going through and going and organizing our usual annual football competition in, in my neighborhood which is called Morada in Omdurman, which is just across the river from Khartoum. And the final was supposed to be Saturday. Woke up Saturday morning. Saturday morning we heard all the gunshots and the bombing and everyone was under the misperception that was just something that's just gonna take a day or two. Because it happened before this skirmishes between the army and the rsf. Everyone was under that perception and we said okay, just give it a day. And then the next day things got worse. We used to say this, if you're lucky, you walk out with your passport, your phone and your life. My journey from Umdurman to Medeni we crossed the bridge and we go. We went through an area called the forest street, Sharia al Ghaba in Arabic and in there, there I saw all the bodies. I saw dogs eating bodies. I saw. It was very, very scary. Now that was the moment it actually hit me because there were hundreds of bodies sprayed all over the street. Both from the army and the rsf. After leaving Khartoum, on our way to Medani, there was all the tanks and the cars abandoned by both armies. So it was a very clear sign of a big battle that took place in that area. My personal house and cars were stolen. It's like a nightmare to us. Even now, thinking back and looking into how the events progressed, you feel like, no, no, you know, this kind of denial stage. What makes things a little bit more confusing to us and probably more amazing, if I might use the the term, is the level of resilience that we've all exhibited.
- [26:43]
Unknown
Despite the war going on. I guess in your heart, you would hope one day to be able to get back to normality, for football to become a happy place once again in the center of Omdurman, Khartoum.
- [26:59]
Mazin Abousin
Yes, definitely. And we created a group for this. And we said, well, we're still gonna play that final one day in the same spot with the same people. We lost at least probably 5 of the people who were there with us. Unfortunately, through this war, some of them died natural death, but some of them actually were actually. Shells hit their houses directly. One of them is Coach Rashidi.
- [27:29]
Unknown
Coach Rashid's work was so well respected that the Sudan FA made a special short film about him prior to his death.
- [27:38]
Mazin Abousin
Coach Rashidi is one of our heroes because he is someone who is using the passion of football in order to help people in poor communities.
- [27:53]
Unknown
My name is El Rashid Al Haj Amin. Abdul Gadir, founder of a football training school. I used to be a footballer in the Shambhat Football Union. After that, I stopped playing football and started football skills and exercising. I remember whenever I was practicing in the neighborhood, the kids would run up to me and ask me to coach them. Some with special needs. They would wait outside the school and just watch. I would ask them to join the lineup and hand each boy a uniform. This instantly gave them a high morale from the simple feeling of belonging to my school.
- [28:31]
Mazin Abousin
He also was heading an initiative of using football as a tool to bring disabled kids out, those kids who live in poor areas, to bring them and integrate them into the society.
- [28:45]
Unknown
Coach Rashid helped many in Omdurman, including those on the periphery, like Abdul Aziz, a football lover who'd lost the use of his legs. He explains that Coach Rashid taught him to play football with his hands so he could get involved in street football. His love and appreciation was returned to Rashid by stitching up punctured footballs so they could be played with again by himself and others.
- [29:19]
Mazin Abousin
He had big dreams he was always talking to me about that trip to FIFA where he wants to make it big and he wants to showcase Sudan as a country in love with football. When he lost his life, he was actually serving the community through. Usually they set up those small kitchens in neighborhoods to feed the people because of, you know, their inability to go and find food. So they set up this kitchen in North Khartoum called Shambhat. It was targeted by a shell, and he lost his life immediately in.
- [30:06]
Unknown
The work that Coach Rashid carried out before he died. And his giving and caring nature would have helped in places like the Adre camp, where so many children, many orphaned, now find themselves, where they play football on the sandy ground as much as they can.
- [30:26]
My name is Muhammad Munier Ibrahim. We arrived at Adre Camp after fleeing El Janina due to the war. The journey was incredibly difficult. Some of us perished along the way, while others managed to survive and make it here. When we arrived, we found no schools or institutions to enroll in. As a result, we turned to football, even though the ball we use belongs to a friend from a neighboring area. Whenever we want to play, we borrow his ball and return it after practice. My name is Mohand Ismail Bashir. We miss attending school as we used to in El Janina. Unfortunately, we've been deprived of this right here in Chad, we play football and we have a team called the Sudanese Victim Tory Team. Although we continue with this activity, we are in dire need of certain supplies to keep going, such as footballs, sportswear and shoes.
- [31:38]
Football for the children of the Adre camp is a release. That's why it's so important to them, because so many have experienced terrible things on their way as they fled the fighting.
- [31:51]
Noah Michaelson
It was shocking to find out that almost 10 million children have been within 5 kilometers of active conflict.
- [32:01]
Unknown
That's Arif Noor, Save the Children's country director for Sudan.
- [32:06]
Noah Michaelson
But imagine the kind of trauma that these 10 million children will now carry with them. The mental and the psychological trauma, the scars that they will carry with them, in some cases, for the rest of their lives. So this is 10 million children. Almost all of the schools and universities in the country had to close down. So almost 19 million children. And that's a whole generation of young Sudanese who are losing out on their future because they can't go back to their schools and can't go back to their universities. Sudan is currently facing the largest internally displaced people's crisis across the world. And I think we also need to remind the world that this is not a war that is being fought at the borders. This is a war that is being fought inside densely populated towns and cities with little or no regard to civilians in those areas.
- [33:13]
Unknown
Back across the border in the North Darfur region, famine has now been confirmed by UNICEF and the Famine Review Committee in the Zamzam camp, which is one of the largest displacement camps in Sudan. It's the first time the committee has determined famine in seven years, and only the third time since they started monitoring 20 years ago. UNICEF and the UN World Food Programme say that unless aid arrives in many affected regions, over 700,000 children are projected to suffer severe acute malnutrition, the most life threatening there is.
- [33:53]
Noah Michaelson
This probably is by far one of the largest humanitarian crises that we have seen in recent past. I know the word's attention is, for all the right reasons, is focused on the conflict in Middle east, for example in Ukraine. So this is also to a large extent a hidden or forgotten war. So that's another aspect which really worries us. Almost half of the population, so one in every two people that we come across is in need of humanitarian assistance. The kind of sexual and gender based violence that we are seeing in the country, I mean, that's absolutely unimaginable.
- [34:40]
Unknown
Back at the Adre camp, Hafeez tells us what life is like there after having to flee his town of El Janina. Like so many others when the RSF took over.
- [34:54]
Raj Panjabi
Everyone is aware of Sudan's problems. The atrocities in West Darfur, state killings, looting, beatings and tying people with ropes. People were forced to walk long distances on foot. The same level of suffering persisted upon reaching Adre camp. People here now have nothing but patience. We are now living in uncertainty about what the future holds here and in Sudan, where conditions are deteriorating. Life here is extremely challenging. There are orphans in the camp who lack shelter, food and water. Many others face similar struggles. These people live in dire conditions and neither the elder overseeing the camp nor organizations present have been able to help them. They remain where they are, enduring hardships and relying on patience. I hope Sudan can return to what it once was so that we can all return and reunite in our homeland. Sudan is our beloved country and we are proud of it despite the hardships. I pray for Sudan to recover quickly so that we can go back and live in a home.
- [36:30]
Unknown
Next, we'll take you to Omdurman.
- [36:32]
Mazin Abousin
I know at least three or four football grounds were actually used as burial grounds.
- [36:38]
Unknown
And we'll highlight the lengths that some have gone to to leave Sudan.
- [36:42]
Abdul Salam
So I went underneath the truck four in the morning in Belgium I stayed there for five hours. Underneath.
- [36:54]
Unknown
This is Sudan Football and the Forgotten War.
- [37:09]
Raj Panjabi
Hi, I'm Raj Panjabi from HuffPost.
- [37:12]
Noah Michaelson
And I'm Noah Michelson, also from HuffPost.
- [37:14]
Raj Panjabi
And we're the hosts of Am I Doing It Wrong? A new podcast that explores the all.
- [37:18]
Unknown
Too human anxieties we have about trying to get our lives right.
- [37:21]
Raj Panjabi
Each week on the podcast, Raj and I pick a new topic that we want to understand better and bring a guest expert on to talk us through how to get it right. And we're talking like legit credible experts, doctors, PhDs all around superheroes from HuffPost and Acast Studios. Check out Am I Doing It Wrong?
- [37:38]
Adam Leventhal
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- [37:42]
Raj Panjabi
You can find your favorite person a gift as special as they are, like.
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Adam Leventhal
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- [37:48]
Raj Panjabi
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- [37:55]
Unknown
This podcast is brought to you by Aura. By the time you hear about a data breach, your information has already been exposed for months. On average, companies take 277 days to report a breach. That's nine months where hackers have access to your personal data. That's why we're thrilled to partner with Aura. Aura is an all in one digital safety solution that monitors the dark web for your phone number, email and Social Security number. Sending real time alerts of your info is found. It also includes a vpn, password manager and data broker removal to help keep you safe for a limited time. Aura is offering a 14 day free trial plus a dark web scan to check if your personal information has been leaked. All for free@aura.com safety that's aura.com safety to sign up and protect your loved ones. That's a u r a.com safety terms apply. Check the site for details.
- [38:51]
From the athletic this is Sudan Football and the Forgotten War. The last time Sudan were able to play a home game was March 27, 2023, 19 days before the start of the war. They beat Gabon 10 thanks to Mohammed Komes. Overhead kick digs that across.
- [39:16]
Oh, it's a fabulous effort.
- [39:18]
Adam Leventhal
And it's an even better goal.
- [39:21]
Unknown
The game took place at Al Hilal Stadium in Omdurman. It's known as the Blue Jewel. It's a stone's throw from the home of their great rivals, Al Marij. But many parts of the city, which sits across the Nile from capital Khartoum, are a shadow of their former selves. It's still an active war zone. Kotayba Farid works closely with the Sudan team. I wanted to ask you about Omdurma, the city, its footballing culture. With both Al Hilal and Al Marij in the city so close to each other. Like Liverpool and. And Everton.
- [40:06]
Raj Panjabi
Yeah, exactly.
- [40:07]
Unknown
Just tell me about the heartbeat of that city, which obviously now is suffering so much.
- [40:14]
Raj Panjabi
That city breathes football, actually, that city breathed football, breathes culture breathes art breathes, like many things. For them, I think to be able to go back and play again in Omdurman, that will take time. And they know, the players themselves, they know and I'm sure that they have feelings because they've been missing, they have memories there. They have victories lost, they lost game day, they won game, they won champions, they hold cups there. It's not even to the players, but even to the people. Like what's going right now in Sudan with the war and with everything, you know, it's so hard to describe it, but I just want to say that we will be back and we will be back stronger.
- [41:01]
Unknown
It makes you emotional, I guess.
- [41:03]
Raj Panjabi
Yeah, it's emotional because I'm from Omdurman. Yeah, I live in Omdurman and talking about Omdurman actually touched me because I've been born there, I spent my life there, I spent my childhood there. So I have many memories there. So once they say Omdurman, once they say it get touched. I used to go to the, to the Hilali stadium every week to watch the matches with my father, with my family and everything. So now watching, watching it in this situation makes me sad, makes me emotional, makes me have difficult feelings.
- [41:41]
Unknown
The majority of the Sudan team play for the two big Omdurman clubs. Captain Ramadan Ajab and goalkeeper Mohamed Mustafa play for Al Marik. While the nation's current top scorer Mohammed Abdul Rahman and key midfielder Waladin Khadija, nicknamed Pogba due to his playing style, likeness to the Frenchman, play for Al Hilal. Those two club sides have also moved to Mauritania to play. There's no professional football being played in Sudan at the moment, but others still play on where they can. Here's Mazin Abousin from the Sudan fa.
- [42:21]
Mazin Abousin
In my neighborhood in Girif area, I know at least three or four grounds were actually used as burial grounds, football grounds. And yeah, people were trying to continue playing football, but it wasn't safe enough to do so. In Omdurman as we speak now, people continue to play football in the Kerari locality because I'm in touch with some ex players. They still play even under shells. They know there's a risk of shelling.
- [42:53]
Unknown
At one such football gathering in the Karari district of Omdurman, we speak to former national team and Almerigh player Adil Amin Awadallah, who leads an initiative called Resilience. Resilience through Football. The game takes place on a dusty pitch in a tightly packed residential area.
- [43:16]
Raj Panjabi
We continue to play football despite the war and all its related threats. The main threat here is being caught in the cross fire. The worst experience for all the residents here is the random shelling that continues day and night. Sports in general are always a safe haven for all, but football has an exceptional role as the people of Oderman are very passionate about the game. Young and old players gather week in week out here to enjoy a challenge from other localities. The national team is the only source of happiness the Sudanese people have at the moment and we wish them all the success. The coach and the team did a great job and we are very proud of them.
- [44:17]
Unknown
One of Adil's fellow players in Omdurman is Aman Rahim. He explains that no one expected the scale of the fighting, but football has been a major factor in him and his family getting back to normality. Football represents all the beautiful things for us, he says. Relationship, brotherhood and healthy exercise. It's a mini society. The war in Sudan isn't just a domestic issue or conflict. As the New York Times reported earlier this year, it has become a playground for foreign players, all part of a volatile stew of outside interests pouring weapons or fighters into the conflict, hoping to grab the spoils of war. One of those foreign players is Russia, who vetoed the UK and Sierra Leone's UN Security Council resolution to protect civilians in Sudan. It was met with this response from UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy. Shame on Putin for using his mercenaries to spread conflict and violence across the African continent. And shame on Putin for pretending to be a partner of the global south while condemning black Africans to further killing, further rape, further starvation in a brutal war. If the war continues, the displacement crisis will also worsen. More people will be forced to neighbouring countries or beyond.
- [45:55]
Raj Panjabi
My name is Abdul Salam. I'm from Sudan. I live in uk.
- [46:01]
Unknown
Abdul Salam came to the UK from Sudan prior to the start of this current war because it was no longer safe for him to stay. He left when he was 15. His journey shows the lengths some will go to to find safety. Journeys like this continue to this day.
- [46:22]
Abdul Salam
My journey was really difficult. It was really hard. There was moments that it was literally like so close to death. From Libya to Italy. I woke up at three in the morning, I went to the boat, really small plastic boat, and I was praying really hard that hopefully I can make was 140 of us on the boat. And when they came to save us, they tried to take, like, the people that is more eager. So they took them to another boat to take them to the camp. And it turns from being like, happy and you feel safe on the other boat. They watch literally, like for saw people dying in front of them and they couldn't do in, like, they couldn't do anything after that. We decided to walk from Italy to France and we walked through the mountains. There was a lot of fences, a lot of walls. So I walked again to Belgium. We sleep on the streets, like under a bridge, just on the high road. It was winter, it was really cold, it was rainy. So I went with two of my friends under the truck. It's a big truck from Belgium to France. And all I can see under, like, the truck, just the road underneath me. And it was really dangerous. It feels like really dangerous because you can see this big part of the truck that you feel in a moment, like, if my shoelace got stuck in that chain, that's it. Like, I will just turn with a wheel. I'll be like finished in a second. So I went underneath the truck four in the morning in Belgium. I stayed there for five hours underneath and it was really cold, of course. So from nine in the morning, the truck left Belgium two in the morning. The following day I went outside the truck. In the uk.
- [48:35]
Unknown
Abdul Salaam has been helped by a charity called Fair Shot, which uses the power of football to unite and educate communities in the UK about the issues faced by those seeking asylum. They visit clubs, some near areas that saw far right anti immigration protests and riots this summer, and organize games with locals who integrate with Abdul Salam and other refugees and asylum seekers.
- [49:04]
Abdul Salam
In football, the way that I treat people, the way that I show respect, change people. Sometimes when I play football with different people, they treated me as a. As a mate. It's like a Sudanese word, which is quite similar. When you meet a person on the pitch and you treat him as a mate, like, you might not know that person, but suddenly in football you become mates.
- [49:30]
Unknown
Daniel, a Rotherham fan, was one of the players that Abdul Salaam played alongside. I feel like the town does sometimes get a bad press, especially recent, and I think it's important to show that it really is a town built on community and everyone's welcome. And, yeah, sometimes it's hard to get that message.
- [49:49]
Abdul Salam
Across.
- [49:49]
Unknown
But I think today's proved that, well, we are welcoming life now. For Abdul Salam is very different. But home still dominates his thoughts.
- [50:02]
Abdul Salam
Now, when I call my family back home, when I call my friends, it's just rubbish. There's nothing good. There's not even a single good news. Like, nothing. All sad, all hard, dark. I finished the phone call and it just like I keep crying, you hear, just like some of them say, you know, that person that is part of the family just died. One of my friends would say, like, my brother died. Another person would say, my dad died. Another person would say, like, you know, that house, a bomb just fall on that house and the people there died. And that's all that you hear from people back in Sudan. I can't imagine how they feel. I can't describe what they are going through.
- [50:51]
Unknown
It's unclear how long the conflict in Sudan will threaten and disrupt the lives of millions. The football team will hope to be welcomed and hosted by more nations in the future, having made afcon. March's World cup qualifiers are the next hurdle they must overcome and that Mazina Busin and the rest of the Sudan FA are planning for.
- [51:13]
Mazin Abousin
I think that would be a dream come true, definitely. And for the first time, especially the World cup is in us, Canada, Mexico, and it will be the nicest consolation, kind of an event that will bring everyone together. Because what we feel is going to happen now with this war and all these factions and tribes and tribal kind of wars and stuff, once we have this qualification, I think with the national anthem being played with the flag, I think this will be the moment to bring everyone together behind the team. And I could see it if the team is playing, you look at the fans, you've Got people from Dart 4, from the east, North, South, Central, you know, so supporting the team, I think that will be a huge remedy for the nation of Sudan.
- [52:08]
Unknown
But above all, everyone just wants the war to end so they can return home. Here's the captain, Ramadan Ajab.
- [52:18]
Noah Michaelson
I wish for the Sudanese people to be back to their homes, to their shelters, to their homeland, to their neighborhood. We know that it is the wish the people, and we hope to give that gift to the Sudanese people, to people who are being patient and who are suffering and going through so much. To go back and play at home will mean a lot for us as a team, as Sudanese people, and for the supporters to share the joy of victory with them on the field will be special. I want to tell to the Sudanese people that we thank them for the support during this difficult time to those outside of the country too. We feel proud to represent them. They make us proud. I tell all the Sudanese people that hopefully God helps us and Sudan returns to what it was.
- [53:03]
Unknown
Sudan Football and the Forgotten War was an athletic media company production. It was written and presented by myself, Adam Leventhal. The producer was Abby Patterson.
- [53:28]
Raj Panjabi
Introducing the.
- [53:29]
Unknown
New 2025 Ford Maverick truck with in.
- [53:31]
Bed power up to £4,000 of towing.
- [53:33]
Adam Leventhal
Capability and elevated off roading capability.
- [53:36]
Unknown
The new 2025 Ford Maverick truck with a standard hybrid engine and available all.
- [53:40]
Wheel drive Ford make it with Maverick Max towing on all wheel drive models.
- [53:44]
With available Max trailer tow package excludes.
- [53:46]
Maverick, Lobo and Tremor models when properly equipped.
- [53:49]
Max towing varies based on cargo vehicle.
- [53:50]
Raj Panjabi
Configuration, accessories and number of passengers.
- [53:53]
Unknown
Always consult the owner's manual before off roading. Know your terrain and trail difficulty and use appropriate safety gear did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores, automate allowance and keep an eye on your kids spending with real time notifications, kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely and parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money with guardrails in place. Try Greenlight Risk free today@greenlight.com Listen this podcast is brought to you by Aura. By the time you hear about a data breach, your information has already been exposed for months. On average, companies take 277 days to report a breach. That's nine months where hackers have access to your personal data. That's why we're thrilled to partner with Aura. Aura is an all in one digital safety solution that monitors the dark web for your phone number, email and Social Security number, sending real time alerts if your info is found. It also includes a vpn, password manager and data broker removal. To help keep you safe for a limited time, Aura is offering a 14 day free trial plus a dark web scan to check if your personal information has been leaked. All for free@aura.com safety that's aura.com safety to sign up and protect your loved ones. That's a u r a.com safety terms apply. Check the site for details.