CAIRO — Anas Hosary’s soccer academy is heading into its fourth year of using sports to help Syrians in Egypt integrate into their home away from home. Some 180 young boys and teenagers now train at the Syrian Stars Academy, founded in 2014 by Hosary, a former player with the Syrian national soccer team. Half of the players are Syrian.
The Egyptian Football Association’s August 2017 decision to allow every Egyptian Premier League club to recruit two players of Syrian or Palestinian nationality has been encouraging for the academy and its students.