THIS week’s success story must undoubtedly be the spectacle that is the Homeless World Cup, and unless you have been living in a cave in deepest darkest Africa for the past week, it is probably the only way that you will have missed it. Because, this time and rightly so, I am delighted to say that that this event has received a huge amount of coverage.

The outcome of this World Cup however will not be decided by the number of goals. It won’t bring in an excessive amount of finance destined to keep fat cats in the luxury that they believe they deserve and it won’t suffer from the adverse publicity that followed some of the fans behaviour whilst ‘supporting’ their teams at the recent European Championships in France. This tournament will create role models and that is priceless.

This world cup is all about social impact, change, inspiration and over-coming major personal challenges that could befit mostly all of us, were we to find ourselves in a sliding doors scenario.

With 64 teams, representing 52 countries and around five hundred and twelve players, Glasgow is once again pulling out all the stops and taking the gold medal as the ‘friendly city’. To support the tournament an army of volunteers have been recruited, some themselves having experienced the indignity that homelessness brings.

George Square has been totally transformed and has become the hub of the games. It has three purpose built pitches with seating for the general public, who, and I pause before I use this term, have been an inspiration. Office workers out for a lunch-time break, families out for the day, shoppers, tourists, they all have been major supporters for both home and visiting teams and this support has not gone amiss with the players. The First Minister also has been in attendance during the week, showing her support for those who have had to struggle out of the darkest depths and donning a ‘see you jimmy’ hat to lighten up proceedings.

It is estimated that throughout the world there are over 100 million homeless people. That statistic, in itself, is a major humanitarian issue, but break it down and realise that each of these individuals has a story relevant just to them. A number of social media channels are highlighting this, where the players themselves talk about the path that led them to become homeless. Addiction, marriage breakdown, financial problems, just some of the issues that add up to despair.

However no despair on show this week, just lots of fun, laughter and skill. Scotland’s women, who are ranked 7th in the world, and have had some really good results up against some of the stiffest opposition, will be in the mix at the end. The guys may not be so fortunate, but at the time of writing, still have an opportunity to pull it back.

The power of sport has been tangible throughout this. You can’t help but feel pride for those participating. Admire their team work and their absolute ‘fair-play’ ethos. Even during one game, swapping goalkeepers around to help support the opposition. But what happens afterwards – that is the key question. That is where the Homeless World Cup Foundation comes into play.

The Homeless World Cup engages with national partners to integrate football within their locality. When players return from the competition, it has been found that a huge percentage of them are motivated to improve their lives.

Football has the power to change lives. We read about the lucky few who make it to the top of their game, at this tournament everyone feels lucky. Lucky to be alive and playing a game that has given them a ray of hope.

Want to go that little bit further? Log onto homelessworldcup.org/tournament/glasgow-2016/ read about the people involved, hear their stories and then get your credit card out and donate.