Sport helping displaced Lebanese living in stadium to cope
Key takeaways
- More than a million people have been forced to flee their homes in southern Lebanon due to fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.
- The coach fled to Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium from Dahiyeh, one of the capital's southern suburbs, along with thousands of others.
- The Middle East was plunged into fresh fighting on February 28 when the United States and Israel attacked Iran and the conflict spread into Lebanon just days later.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
More than a million people have been forced to flee their homes in southern Lebanon due to fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah. As many shelter in Beirut stadiums, sport is sometimes a welcome distraction.
https://p.dw.com/p/5DQ4YSome youngsters use sport as an escape while living at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in Beirut Image: Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu Agency/IMAGOAdvertisement Hassan Seif al-Din never expected that, at the age of 65, he would be teaching martial arts to children in a football stadium in Beirut. But these are not normal times.
The coach fled to Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium from Dahiyeh, one of the capital's southern suburbs, along with thousands of others. He now lives in one of the many rows of tents set up in the venue.