Champions #Withrefugees, June 18 taking the field on the side of refugees
“I was very happy when I found the Liberi Nantes team”, says Robel Tesfit with emotion. “The championship was 
really nice”. Our goalkeeper is talking of his experience with Liberi Nantes to the audience at the press conference organised by the UNHCR in the Graziella Lonardi Buontempo room of the MAXXI gallery complex in Rome. On June 8, many initiatives were presented under the aegis of the #WithRefugees campaign, promoted by the UNHCR in the lead up to World Refugee Day on June 20. At the heart of the project is the intention of sensitising public opinion to the topic of refugees and to try to create multiple opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers to meet local communities. From cooking with the Refugee Food Festival, presented by Alexandra Deon e Marcello Favagrossa, to art, with the S.O.S installation by Achilleas Souras, on display at the MAXXI, passing through music in the form of the WebNotte programme of Repubblica.it and the “open door” days of the Rete SPRAR.
Integration and awareness can’t not also happen through sport, which has always been one of the best means of creating ways of meeting and exchanging ideas. As we announced during the press conference at the MAXXI, Liberi
Nantes will also take part in this series of events with a day of great football, the Champions #WithRefugees, organised by the UNCHR together with Liberi Nantes and the Italian Association of Footballers.
The appointment is June 18 at 5pm, when a team made up of stars from football and showbusiness take the field at 
the Three Fountains Stadium in Rome to play a friendly match against our team.
The refugees and asylum seekers of Liberi Nantes will find themselves dribbling, attacking and defending their goal against a squad of players including Sulley Muntari – the Pescara player who became a symbol of the struggle against racism and intolerance – Damiano Tommasi, Giuseppe Giannini, Massimo Paganin, Giuliano Giannichedda, and showbiz stars such as Alessandro Gassmann, Francesco Pannofino and Diego Bianchi.
The event will be an important moment of sharing, raising awareness, fun and good music: during half-time, the Little Orchestra of Torpignattara will play.
(Valerio Maggio)
