FCBARCELONA.CAT

04.08.2008 11:39

“Kick it to malaria”

www.fcbarcelona.cat

FC Barcelona, the FCB Foundation, Malaria No More and the AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) have started up the “More Than a Club: Kick it to Malaria” initiative. The goal of the alliance is to raise funds for the fight against the disease.

mosquito bite, it kills a child every 30 seconds – more than one million each year. So this Monday FC Barcelona, the FCB Foundation, Malaria No More and the AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organisation) have teamed up in a global initiative to raise funds and raise the profile of malaria in order to save the lives of many children, above all in Africa.

Five key points in the campaign

The Barça slogan “More than a club” is central to this new social commitment. The campaign, which is called “Kick it to malaria” and is to be rolled out next year, features five key points:

- As part of its “US On Tour ’08”, this Tuesday 5 August FC Barcelona will be taking part in a 4-against-4 tournament at the Chelsea Waterside Field in Manhattan. Each team will have at least one Barça player, two children from the AYSO and a donor who will make a financial contribution to the project.

- FC Barcelona and AYSO are inviting the more than 600,000 young Americans who are members of the latter organisation to raise awareness among their coaches, family and friends and encourage them to take part in the project and give money to buy bed nets for children in Africa: each bed net costs $10.

- Barça will be wearing a special edition of their kit for the games on the club’s “USA On Tour '08” bearing the Malaria No More logo on the left sleeve.

- Money raised through this initiative will be used to fund malaria control strategies in Africa in partnership with the FCB Foundation through its International Network of Solidarity Centres (XICS) programme. This programme is being put in place in eleven countries around the world, with half of them in Africa. The main goal of the XICS programme is to provide comprehensive support for at-risk children and teenagers through educational, health and psychosocial support programmes which have a real impact on their lives and those of their families.

- The Fox Soccer Channel will donate a bed net for each goal scored in the games the station broadcasts during the 2008/09 season. It will also provide free airtime to publicise the campaign with profile raising messages featuring FC Barcelona players. Meanwhile Fox Sport, in Spanish, will also contribute $10 per goal scored during its broadcasts of the Nissan South America Cup, the World Club Championship, the Mexican Football Inter League and the Santander Libertadores Cup.

A great opportunity

“Soccer is the world’s favourite sport,” said the chairman of Malaria No More and News Corporation, Peter Chernin. “Having the backing of FC Barcelona and the AYSO to help spread the message will have a major impact and help save thousands of lives.” For his part, Barça chairman Joan Laporta pointed out that “FC Barcelona, through its Foundation, is deeply pledged to the most important challenges facing the world. In these programmes sport is used as a tool to help at-risk children and teenagers by trying to offer them a future full of hope and wellbeing.”

Everyone’s a winner

The programme is to be coordinated via the new website morethanaclub.org , and those who make the biggest donations will have the chance to win Barça shirts and a free trip to the Camp Nou to watch one of the first team’s home games.