2007-2017: Ten Years With Refugees
26 October 2007-26 October 2017. And that makes 10. Exactly the shirt number that has made, and continues to make, entire generations of football fans dream.
“The 10 is the football equivalent of a god. He is expected, in no particular order: to score; to help his team mates score; to provide entertainment (with his ‘tricks’); to inspire the move; the set the rhythm; and to take any penalties or free kicks”, Gianni Mura wrote one time.
To us, more prosaically, all that was required was to play. Or rather, to help to play. Ten years ago, Liberi Nantes started out with a mission: to put together a group of political refugees and asylum seekers – ‘guests’ in the reception centres of Rome and its province – who were offered the chance to play football twice a week.
Ten years later, Liberi Nantes is still here and is now so much more. And is celebrating.
We have lots of initiatives and surprises in store to celebrate the 10 years of Liberi Nantes. Some of them you have
already seen, like the pizza and sushi party at ‘our’ Saravan’s PiSù restaurant, the new logo (which, uniting the 1 with the shell of Dudù – our ‘historic’ mascot – makes up the number 10) or the new shirts created by Rage Sport, a non-profit brand which kits out grassroots sports initiatives with products which are 100 per cent made in Italy, made in buildings which satisfy all legal regulations and with workers who have a proper contract of employment. Once productions costs are taken away, from every item produced 10 per cent is given to the restoration and recovery of free spaces dedicated to popular sports.
You will learn about other surprises soon. In the meantime, let’s enjoy lots of new friends, such as the guys from Project FAMI, an initiative started by the Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) which features (among others) Liberi Nantes, which will provide the opportunity for unaccompanied minors (children without families who live in the reception centres) to play football and to swim. The project has made its ‘home’ at the Fulvio Bernadini ground, the original ground of the Liberi Nantes team, and involves 40 kids between 16 and 18, hailing from various corners of the world (Egyptians, Albanians, Gambians, Guineans..).
Other new friends include the kids from Gustamundo, a project of social integration through cooking, which
organises dinners of international cuisine prepared by men and women from some of the most disadvantaged countries in the world. “Every dinner, a story”, is their motto. And we at Liberi Nantes liked the first story a lot: to coincide with our recent home game against Moricone, at the April 25th Stadium, Panda, Buba and Khaled took us on an extraordinary gastronomic journey of discovery of the best Syrian and Gambian specialities.
Those present at the match were able to enjoy another ‘magic’ moment, this time…in music! We won’t say anything else, because the best surprises happen when you are least expecting them. But what do you think, perhaps after 10 long years our wonderful team needs an official anthem?
What we can say, and with absolute certainty, is that this year Liberi Nantes wants to throw open its doors even wider to the world. At the April 25th Stadium, but not only, we will organise more opportunities to meet, regular meetings to talk to you about our initiatives, and not just those based on football. Then, in May, the big end-of-season party. And hopefully it won’t just last one day. Forgive us, we have only just started and we never want to stop celebrating….
(Stefano D’Alessio)
