Rugby
On Saturday, Austria’s national team will start their World Cup qualifier for 2027 against Kosovo in Prishtina. With Khaled Jarkas from Rugby Union Donau Wien, the focus is on a player with an extraordinary story: the Syrian-born player is playing his first competitive game for the national team. In 2015, at the age of 16, he fled the civil war in his home country and walked to Austria via Greece.
“A dream is coming true for me, I can represent my new homeland,” said Jarkas, according to a broadcast by Sportunion. For its President Peter McDonald, he is a prime example of how integration through sport can succeed. The 25-year-old initially found work at his club through the “Rugby Opens Borders” initiative and learned German.
In the meantime, Jarkas has become an integral part of the national team and, thanks to a special rule, can even represent Austria internationally. In rugby, you can play for a national team if you have previously been registered in the country in question for 60 consecutive months. Last fall, the playmaker got his first taste of international air in a non-world-ranked friendly against Croatia.
Commitment to unaccompanied refugees
In addition, Jarkas is also committed to young people with similar fates. As part of the integration project “Sport helps – Beyond Sport”, he leads weekly training sessions for underage, unaccompanied refugees. “Sport has opened many doors for me, so I want to give something back and give young refugees a perspective,” said Jarkas.
His first official encounter is on Saturday, when Austria meets Kosovo at the start of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup in Australia. But the road to the World Cup is a long one. On April 22nd there will be the second leg in the stadium of the Wiener Sport-Club, after that the qualifying wheels will really start to grind. Austria is currently only 87th in the world rankings.
