“Football is such a huge part of where we live and our lives, and it’s just incredible to be able to bring it together over something so horrific (and) to be able to celebrate the lives rather than mourning them all the time.”
Karim Mussilhy said the tournament helps grieving families
PA
Mr Mussilhy said he had fallen in love with the sport due to his uncle, adding that the last five years had been “horrific” as there was “no accountability” for the fire.
“We are still campaigning. We are still fighting for justice. We will do everything that we can to make sure that some positivity comes out of the death of our families,” he said.
"But unfortunately it feels like we’re not close to where we want to be.”
Co-organiser of the tournament and a Grenfell Tower resident who survived the fire, Paul Menacer, 28, said football has helped him recover from the trauma.
He said: “(The Memorial Cup) is very, very important to me on a personal level because QPR were very supportive in the community for the past four-and-a-half years.
“My mental health is quite bad so just to forget about those problems for a few hours, I find it’s a really big stress reliever for me.
“Nothing has changed, we still want justice for the 72 people who passed away, there’s questions that need to be answered and I hope that through the inquiry people are held accountable.”
