Former France international Vikash Dhorasoo visits a Birmingham community project
Dhorasoo recently visited a Birmingham community organisation, 'Bend It Like Birmingham', to lend his support to a project that aims to break down cultural barriers and tackle crime in the city through the use of sports and, in particular, football.
The project has already involved more than 300 young people from diverse backgrounds ranging from Pakistani girls to Samali boys and with the help of 5 housing associations in the area, Ashram, Midland Heart, Waterloo, Harden and Friendship Care & Housing, thousands more are set to benefit from the project.
Whilst in Birmingham, Dhorasoo spoke to Harvy Kaur Matharu of the Eastern Voice about his career, and his film, 'Substitute'.
What kind of hurdles and obstacles have you overcome?
"Only my injuries. I had two operations and recovering from that was a big hurdle."
Have you ever spoken out against controversial issues and what kind of response did you get?
"I've spoken out against racism, homosexuality, I've spoken about politics and obviously not everyone will agree with me, but that's normal."
What advice would you give to budding footballers who dream of being in your position one day?
"I don't like to do that because I think it's difficult enough to become a football player and I think you have to prepare yourself for the fact that you might not make it. To dream of being a footballer, you must also prepare for the fact that you might not make it."
What's your perspective on the lack of Asian footballers on the pitch and how can we tackle this issue?
"I can speak about France where you can see different communities on the pitch, but it's different in England because there are so many Asian people and there are no Asians in the Premiership. That shouldn't be the case and there is a problem, but I can't really explain why because I'm not English and I don't know the situation, but it's very strange for me.
"I think Asians like football and I'm sure there are some good players in the community and there must be a reason for this situation."
How did the film come about and what impact do you want to create?
"It was a Fred Poulet project and at the beginning of the story Fred gave me the camera and told me to take it to the World Cup and take images and the sound without knowing what the conclusion of the story will be. The story was written day by day. We understood that during the World Cup it could be a film."
How does it feel to be the first ever South Asian footballer to reach the FIFA World Cup?
"I never thought about it before I met the distributor of the film, because I feel French. I don't think about my origin when I play football. But I think I am very proud of this at the same time, for my family and my origin, its very important.
"Also I think that I am not representative of the French community because I am Asian. Before the World Cup it was very hard. I think my origin put me in this situation because I'm not very commercial. The French sell the World Cup and the French team, and with me its not the same, where people like Zidane or Henry, represent the French team better."
From Eastern Voice
