Friday , March 29 2024

UEFA’s Match for Solidarity makes its mark!

A year has passed since the UEFA/United Nations Match for Solidarity, which raised funds for a series of humanitarian projects worldwide – and facts and figures from the UEFA Foundation for Children show that the proceeds have been put to impressive use.

It’s a year since UEFA and the United Nations Office at Geneva joined forces to stage the first-ever Match for Solidarity charity football game.

On a glorious April 2018 Saturday afternoon, a host of football superstars came to the Swiss city’s Stade de Genève to thrill more than 23,000 fans and demonstrate football’s eternal power as a social force for good.

The Match for Solidarity, organised with the support of the city and canton of Geneva, and the Geneva Stadium Foundation, featured teams of legends captained by Portuguese star Luís Figo and Brazilian ace Ronaldinho, and raised money for the UEFA Foundation for Children to fund humanitarian and development projects around the world.

In addition to the game itself, the event also included a unique global digital auction for fans, as well as a live auction at a gala dinner held after the match.

The driving overall message was the promotion of peace, human rights and well-being across the world, through the Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations.

A total of €684,400 was raised, and was made available to the UEFA Foundation for Children to support a group of projects worldwide selected by a committee of representatives from UEFA, the United Nations Office at Geneva and the Geneva Stadium Foundation.

The objective laid down by the committee was to support initiatives that use sport, and especially football, as a way to promote inclusion amongst children living with disabilities.

The UEFA Foundation for Children – whose mission is to help children and safeguard their rights – has been working tirelessly with its partners in ensuring that sound use is made of the funds generated by the Match for Solidarity for the selected humanitarian projects: one local project in Geneva and, elsewhere, projects in Argentina, Bangladesh, Greece, Mali and Sri Lanka.

Now, the foundation is ready to highlight the successful achievements that have emerged from that fantastic day in Geneva a year ago…

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