The sharp blast of a referee’s whistle cuts through the heavy air in Sudan’s El Fasher, where young people are reclaiming fragments of normal life through football.
Across the city, dusty open grounds have been turned into makeshift pitches. Teenagers and children gather to play, pouring their energy into the game as fighting continues around them.
With Sudan gripped by civil war, the matches have become more than sport. For many of El Fasher’s youngest residents, they offer a brief escape from fear and uncertainty.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), one of the main parties to the conflict, have pointed to the games as evidence of resilience, saying football brings moments of joy and normalcy.
Yet beyond the improvised pitches, international attention remains fixed on the worsening humanitarian crisis and the growing involvement of regional powers in the battle for North Darfur.
