Last Updated on January 1, 2023 by
Paul James holds out his woolly red hat and the man in the suit drops three coins into its depths before disappearing inside Embankment station.
A boy in a vampire costume rushes over and pulls a scary face at the first Welshman to play at a World Cup since 1958. Another man rushes over to buy him a coffee at nearby Starbucks.
Many others catch the eye of the man, who smiles at them from under the checkered blanket, then turns his head back and continues on his way.
Paul James – a former Canadian football titan – now lives on the streets of London
Many others rush without so much as a glance to the one who shared international ground with Glenn Hoddle and Gary Lineker and tagged Frenchman Michel Platini in Mexico in 1986.
James is one of Wales and Canada’s most decorated footballers. He was born in Cardiff and grew up on his parents’ farm before the family moved to Toronto in 1980.
Six years later, he started all three of Canada’s group games at their only World Cup before Qatar. In 1984, he lost on penalties against Brazil in the quarter-finals at the Olympic Games.
He played 47 times for his country. As a coach, he helped Canada’s Women’s U20s win a CONCACAF title and led their men’s counterparts to the World Cup.
His face hangs on the ‘wall of fame’ at Whitchurch High School, the state school in Cardiff renowned for producing international athletes, alongside Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, former Lions captain Sam Warburton and of Wales captain Gareth Bale.
And while Bale led Wales to their first World Cup since 1958 and Canada started their first since 1986, James is on the streets of London.
He has been unemployed for 13 years and without permanent housing for six years. He returned to the UK from Canada just before the pandemic hit, angry at his treatment across the pond. James believes, with fury and dogged determination, that he has been discriminated against in Canada for his historic crack use.
Until a few months ago, when he found refuge in an inn near Holborn, in a room recently also occupied by two mice, he slept on pieces of cardboard at Charing Cross or Westminster Cathedral. Before that, he was on the bitter streets of Toronto.
We meet outside Embankment, one of the places around the capital where James often sits and awaits kindness from others. Sometimes there, sometimes in Piccadilly or the Strand. He doesn’t call it begging, he calls it fundraising.
The former international played for Canada in all of their group matches at Mexico City 1986
“If you want to know what utter contempt and disgust looks like, do it,” James told the Mail on Sunday. “But if you want to see moments of incredible kindness and humanity, do that too.”
What is it fundraising for? “To be independent,” he says. “To regain some semblance of normality. Being able to wear my own clothes and shoes and not second-hand ones. So that I don’t have to fundraise to buy my own items.
“Reclaiming independence from the metaphorical prison condemned as innocent for thirteen years lost, not by the United Kingdom to whom I feel indebted, but by Canada as a nation. To rediscover and rekindle the passion, enthusiasm and positivity I once had. And, on top of everything, finding a way to connect with people.
James often gives his email address to those who stop to talk, ask them his name on Google. Few, he says, email him. He hopes this might change that.
He watched the World Cup on TV in his hostel room. He sat on the edge of his bed on the fifth floor as Harry Kane scored his first penalty against France.
When Olivier Giroud made it 2-1 in France, he left the hostel and walked through the empty streets to the sounds of local pubs. He heard cheers ring out in the night sky as England won their second penalty. He broke into cries of despair as Kane missed him.
“England were better that day,” said James. “Kane missing the second penalty was not where the game was lost. It was in both goals conceded.
“Failure to press the ball on the first and failure to stop the quality of the cross on the second in tandem with England centre-backs watching the ball lose Giroud. Both were unavoidable mistakes.
James is an avid speaker, with a magnetic, maniacal quality about him. One moment he quotes Shakespeare or Jordan Peterson or Bruce Lee or Steven Bartlett from Dragons Den.
The next day, he leaps off the bench to recreate the paranoid terror that follows smoking crack or rushing to demonstrate how Bale’s lack of pressure held Wales back at the World Cup.
“Wales showed the fighting spirit that I am so proud of. Realistically, however, they were out of their depth.
He hoped England and Wales would wear the One Love armbands to protest the treatment of the LGBT community in Qatar. “Through sport you can achieve social change, but you have to f*****g demand it, right?”
James, a former team-mate of Justin Fashanu, felt disgusted by FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s “bigoted and obscene” speech ahead of the tournament in which he said “Today I feel handicapped”. Today I feel gay. Infantino, says James, appeared ‘more Machiavelli than Cicero’.
So how did this happen. How does this Cardiff-born footballer, decorated World Cup international, Olympian, successful coach, respected pundit, columnist and three-time Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, with a BA from Wilfrid Laurier and an MBA in football from the University of Liverpool end up on the streets of London?
James says Rob Page paid the price of a World Cup exit for playing Gareth Bale in Qatar
He praised England for their performance against France but says the decisive moments came when they conceded
For James, a single thread runs through his remarkable life: the stigma he endured for using crack cocaine.
He first smoked cocaine in 1998 and over the next decade developed, as James urges everyone to describe, a drug addiction problem.
Not every day, sometimes weeks or months in between. “I couldn’t connect with anyone, to find an intimate partner in my life. Substance and overwork replaced that.
James had a six-year relationship with Ashley Kelly who he describes as an “extraordinary person”. “I loved him in pieces but I couldn’t give him anything,” he admits.
Stigma, he says, envelops how society views drugs, even when it comes to language.
“I don’t think you should call someone a drug addict, a crack addict, a junkie,” James says. “The words evoke irrationality and a series of labels that view those exposed as: criminal, scary, irrational, unreliable, avoidable, sick, losers, dirty, lazy, scum, unemployable. Can you see how disgusting this language is?
‘How do you recover from being labeled a homeless crack addict? You don’t.
James is certain he lost his job as head football coach at York University in Toronto, where he led the men’s team to a national championship, due to discrimination over his drug use. When he offered to quit in 2009 as his mental state and drug use worsened, he believes York had a duty to offer him support. He says York asked him to formalize his resignation. James claims he’s already told his co-workers he needs time off and went to rehab. He says he was forced to resign. York denies the charges.
He attempted to take York to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, but was unsuccessful as he had not complained within a year. James argues that his mental health and addiction issues made that impossible.
He took his fight to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2016 but, again, without success. He has since gone on “at least a dozen” hunger strikes in his quest for justice. He wants drug-related discrimination to be enshrined in law.
“There has never been a war on drugs,” says James. “How can you make war on inanimate things? There has never been a war against people. And it is the most vulnerable who suffer most from the ravages of stigma: social exclusion, marginalization, poverty.
The former Canada international said he wondered on the streets when Kane missed his penalty
“If you arrive on the stage of wealth, power, Hollywood stardust or are endowed with a political hiding place, you have the best chance of avoiding such a catastrophe.”
We sit in Victoria Embankment Gardens and James looks at a picture from the World Cup in Mexico in 1986. There he is, dressed in a white Canada jersey, red shorts and white socks, reaching out to sweep the ball from the smallest opponent trying to take it away from him: French n°10 Michel Platini.
Canada lost all of their group matches, but performed well. This year in Qatar was their first World Cup since.
“What we achieved in this World Cup was phenomenal, when I think about how bad we were,” he said. “We worked miracles to keep the score lines so predictable.”
In preparation for the tournament, James started Canada’s warm-up match against England in British Columbia. Hoddle and Lineker both starred for Bobby Robson’s men with Mark Hateley scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win.
James scored against Costa Rica on Canada’s path to winning the CONCACAF championship and securing qualification for Mexico.
He fractured his toe a few months prior, but played with an oversized boot to allow for the extra padding, so big it blew off during games.
After France lost in Mexico, he swapped shirts with defender Maxime Bossis. He hopes his sister still has it.
He has not seen her or her family for four years. His mother died in June, but James didn’t find out until two months later. He hopes this interview will help him reconnect with his father.
James’ national team playing days came to an end after he was embroiled in a bribery scandal at a tournament in Singapore, just months after the World Cup. Four Canadian players accepted money to influence game results.
Before the semi-final, they asked James to join them. He agreed and received $10,000. He then returned the money and testified against the four in court.
When asked what it’s like to look at the photos of him and Platini after all these years, he replies: “It’s mixed.” Pride in knowing that you were part of something special but then, in your later life, to be deliberately treated with such contempt and shame for a deeply human condition is unacceptable.
James has contacted former teammates and colleagues since returning to the UK. When we first met James says the jeans he’s wearing were donated by Chris Ramsey, the technical director at QPR who was England Under-20s coach during the time James was in charge of his counterparts Canadians.
On a chilly night in Victoria, her former team-mate Paul Peschisolido, husband of West Ham vice-chairman Karen Brady, brought her a blanket and food. Peschisolido recently brought him new sneakers and a coat for James’ 59th birthday.
He says Gianni Infantino’s controversial speech on the eve of the World Cup was ‘sectarian’
James picked up chunks of work, like sweeping the roads of Oxford Street before a knee injury kept him from continuing.
James carries most of his stuff in a black duffel bag, his blankets, his clothes, his little iPad with the broken screen.
He had a smartphone but it was stolen from his sleeping bag while he slept at Charing Cross. Someone stole his shoes as he slept on the streets of Toronto.
Page should have realized you can’t take players to the highest level and should have acted decisively with Bale
It took a long time for James to agree to the interview. We meet four times in the last few months, a few hours at a time, and exchange many emails which he often sends from a public library near King’s Cross.
At various times, he draws his consent. He doesn’t know if he can open himself up to more ridicule but, in the end, he thinks it can help, not just him but others.
After his fundraising hours, James will walk back to the hostel. He donates part of his collection to other homeless people he meets along the way. For this interview, his only request was that The Mail on Sunday donate to charities for the homeless in London.
After France lost in Mexico, he swapped shirts with defender Maxime Bossis (pictured)
Paul Peschisolido – a former teammate of James’s – bought him a blanket on seeing him at Victoria Station
James doesn’t want you to feel sorry for him. He prefers you to feel angry. But, more than anything, he hopes it will make you think, make you think about how society treats its most vulnerable and how a decorated World Cup footballer ended up here.
“My football career was everything,” he says. “I shouldn’t have lost a day of work. If I were to end my life tomorrow, which I won’t, people would understand. Because it was fucking brutal.
All of this is only part of the story. Our conversations, he says, barely scratch the surface. There are hundreds of emails he sent to Infantino and Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada.
There are tons of legal documents, some 200 pages, sent to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada. There’s the website he started called “Confronting the Stigma of Drug Addiction.” There is his online memoir from 2012 titled Cracked Open.
Only then, he says, will someone truly understand the depth of discrimination and anger. Only then will they understand why he will never stop fighting.
He sent emails to Justin Trudeau and Gianni Infantino explaining his story
Contents
Can India host FIFA World Cup?
However, India still has a long way to go before they can play the role of host. The country needs to update its stadium infrastructure to create a few more high-caliber venues that can pass FIFA’s strict tests.
Will India ever be able to play the FIFA World Cup?
Why India is not in FIFA World Cup?
The country’s football federation has never explained the decision and there are many theories: some said it was because the team wanted to play barefoot, while others claimed that the Football Federation of India ( AIFF) could not afford to send players to Brazil at the time. .
Why is India not popular in football?
Cricket is partly responsible for the decline of football in India. After winning the Cricket World Cup in 1983, cricket’s popularity in India grew to such an extent that other sports including football were largely neglected. Even today, we find at least one Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar or M.S.
Is India in the FIFA World Cup 2022?
India is heavily represented in the FIFA World Cup 2022. Not on the pitch, but in some activities around it. In Vinay Menon, the Belgian team for the next showpiece will have a Keralite among their backstage staff.
Where in the u. s. will the World Cup be?
Boston selected to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup – Gillette Stadium.
Where in the United States will the World Cup be held in 2026? AT&T Stadium in the city of Arlington is one of 16 stadiums chosen to play matches for the next World Cup in 2026. The year Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was built, the newest of the stadiums . Aerial view of SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. have been selected for this World Cup.
What cities will the 2026 World Cup be held?
A total of 16 cities will host matches. Most of them (11) are located in the United States: Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Boston and New York. Mexican headquarters will be in Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City.
Why is the 2026 World Cup in 3 countries?
The trio of nations hosting the 2026 World Cup – the United States, Canada and Mexico – will split matches between them with some group stage games based in one country to reduce travel.
Where will the 2026 World Cup start?
The 2026 World Cup will take place in three North American countries: the United States, Mexico and Canada. This will be the first time the tournament has been hosted by three different nations and it will be the first time the event has ever been played in Canada.
What cities will the World Cup be in 2022?
Where is the 2022 World Cup? The 2022 World Cup is hosted by Qatar. The matches will be played between eight venues in the capital, Doha, and the surrounding towns of Lusail, Al Khor, Al Rayyan and Al Wakrah.
Where is the FIFA World Cup 2022 schedule?
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be hosted from November 21, 2022 to December 18, 2022 in Qatar, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup schedule updated below.
What city will host the 2026 World Cup final?
FIFA World Cup: More Stadium Info & Location Final World Cup venue could be MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey as mentioned. Apart from the FIFA World Cup final, USA will also host all matches of this FIFA 2026 tournament from the quarter-finals.
Who will be hosting 2026 World Cup?
The United States, Canada and Mexico are all set to jointly host the prestigious 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Canada hosting it for the first time ever. These North American nations will host the tournament in a completely new and expanded format providing platforms for 48 nations.
Where will the final of the World Cup 2026 be?
The tournament will be jointly organized by 16 cities from three North American countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Is the World Cup 2022 going ahead?
The Qatar 2022 World Cup is underway, the first time the tournament has been held in the Middle East and the first time a World Cup has been played outside of the usual summer dates.
Has the 2022 World Cup been delayed? That organizers agreed this week to change the day the World Cup will actually start. World Cup organizers have made the unprecedented and stunning request to postpone the start of the tournament to November 20, from the long-planned date of November 21.
What are the 2022 World Cup schedule?
World Cup 2022: Dates, draw, schedule, kick-off times, Qatar tournament final
- World Cup quarter-final results. Friday, December 9. …
- Results of the semi-finals. Tuesday, December 13. …
- Game for third place. Saturday 17 December. …
- Final. Sunday, December 18. …
- World Cup round of 16 results. Saturday 3 December.
How many games are in the World Cup 2022?
A total of 64 matches will be played to decide the winners of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022â¢.
Where is World Cup 2022 schedule?
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be hosted from November 21, 2022 to December 18, 2022 in Qatar, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup schedule updated below.
Is FIFA World Cup 2022 started?
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be hosted from November 21, 2022 to December 18, 2022 in Qatar, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup schedule updated below.
In which country FIFA 2022 held?
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022â¢
What time is the first World Cup game 2022?
Senegal will face the Netherlands at 19:00 on November 21 The 2022 FIFA World Cup™ will kick off with an even bigger celebration for local and international fans as host country Qatar will now face Ecuador on Sunday 20 November at 7:00 p.m. as a stand-alone event.
Will World Cup 2022 have fans?
Fans around the world will secure over 800,000 FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ tickets during the opening phase of sales. The first phase of ticket sales for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is now complete, with fans around the world securing over 800,000 tickets for the biggest celebration of the beautiful game.
Will there be a 2022 World Cup audience?
In a statement issued on December 1, FIFA officially announces that the Qatar 2022 World Cup continues to attract viewers around the world. In Japan, the group match between Japan and Costa Rica on November 27 attracted an average viewership of 36.37 million viewers.
How much are tickets for World Cup 2022?
Ticket prices for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar by category While category 1 tickets for the final match cost US$1,100 in 2018, they now cost around US$1,607 in 2022, a 46% increase.
2022 World Cup schedule In the first two rounds of group matches, matches will take place at 10:00am, 1:00pm, 4:00pm and 7:00pm UK time. The final round of group matches will see two matches taking place at the same time, which is normal at the World Cup, so there will be two matches at 3:00 p.m. and two at 7:00 p.m.
Where will the 2026 World Cup be held?
Which US cities are hosting the 2026 World Cup? A total of 16 cities will host matches. Most of them (11) are located in the United States: Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Boston and New York. Mexican headquarters will be in Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City.
Where will 2026 World Cup final be held?
FIFA World Cup: More Stadium Info & Location Final World Cup venue could be MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey as mentioned. Apart from the FIFA World Cup final, USA will also host all matches of this FIFA 2026 tournament from the quarter-finals.
Why is the 2026 World Cup in 3 countries?
The trio of nations hosting the 2026 World Cup – the United States, Canada and Mexico – will split matches between them with some group stage games based in one country to reduce travel.
Who will hold the 2026 World Cup?
The United States will host 60 games, including all games from the quarter-finals, while neighboring Canada and Mexico will each host 10 games. The tournament will be the first organized by three nations. Argentina are defending champions, having beaten France 4-2 on penalties in the 2022 final.
Why is the 2026 World Cup in 3 countries?
The trio of nations hosting the 2026 World Cup – the United States, Canada and Mexico – will split matches between them with some group stage games based in one country to reduce travel.
Why Will World Cup 2026 have 48 teams?
The next World Cup will be the biggest ever after world football body FIFA grew from a 32-team field to 48 teams in 2026. That means no more so-called “small teams” of football that did not succeed. in Qatar will be offered a unique chance when the tournament is hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Why does World Cup have 3rd place?
Many tournaments use the third place playoff to determine who will win the bronze medal. In some tournaments, a third place playoff is required for seeding purposes if three or all four semi-finalists advance to another tournament.
Will there be a 2026 World Cup?
The 2026 World Cup will be the first tournament to feature 48 teams divided into 16 groups of three. Each team will play two group stage matches (one out of three), with first and second place qualifying for the round of 16. It will also be the first World Cup played in three different host countries.
Who will automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup?
First and foremost, as host nations, it is believed (but not confirmed) that the USA, Canada and Mexico will all automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup. 2026 will be the first tournament bringing together 48 teams divided into 16 groups of three.
What months will the 2026 World Cup be held?
The 2026 World Cup is scheduled to take place from June 8 to July 3.
Will USA host World Cup?
20 in Qatar, football fans around the world are wondering what the next one will look like in 2026. Hosted for the first time by three countries, the 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Which states will host the 2026 World Cup? Which 16 venues have been selected as host cities for the 2026 World Cup?
- United States (11) Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Boston – Gillette Stadium. Dallas – AT&T Stadium. …
- Canada (2) Toronto at BMO Field. Vancouver – BC Place.
- Mexico (3) Guadalajara at Estadio Akron. Mexico – Estadio Azteca. Monterrey – Estadio BBVA.
Who will host the 2026 World Cup final?
However, the 2026 World Cup is expected to stand out in size, number of teams and travel involved. The next World Cup will take place in three host countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Where will the 2026 World Cup start?
The 2026 World Cup will take place in three North American countries: the United States, Mexico and Canada. This will be the first time the tournament has been hosted by three different nations and it will be the first time the event has ever been played in Canada.
Where are the finals for the 2026 World Cup?
Dallas, New York, Los Angeles lead the race, but no official FIFA decision yet. The 2026 World Cup should be an event like no other. Hosted across North America jointly by the United States, Mexico and Canada, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first 48-team tournament in the event’s history.
Is the US hosting the 2026 World Cup?
The next FIFA World Cup is coming to North America. Sixteen cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico will host soccer’s most prestigious tournament in what could be a boon to the sport’s growing popularity among Americans. The joint bid of the three nations to host the 2026 World Cup beat Morocco’s bid in 2018.
Who is hosting FIFA World Cup 2026?
The United States, Canada and Mexico are all set to jointly host the prestigious 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Canada hosting it for the first time ever. These North American nations will host the tournament in a completely new and expanded format providing platforms for 48 nations.
Is the US automatically in the 2026 World Cup?
Still, all three hosts – USA, Canada and Mexico – are expected to be touted as automatic qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. This is strongly believed to be the case, and it has even been referenced by the 2026 “United Bid” package.