Roma to unite with over 75 clubs for International Missing Children’s Day initiative

AS Roma will join forces with over 75 clubs from five different continents on International Missing Children’s Day in May, to support a new initiative that hopes to help find vulnerable young people.

Roma are one of five Italian clubs supporting the initiative – with Juventus, Inter Milan, Lazio and Atalanta also taking part on May 25.

In total, 77 clubs have already offered to support the project with Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur from England, FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Valencia from Spain, Marseille from France and Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen from Germany just some of the many teams representing over 37 different countries and leagues across the world.

Each club has volunteered to use its social media channels on May 25 to share a video featuring children who are currently missing all over the world.

The ‘Football Cares’ Initiative is being run by the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) and supported by both the European Club Association (ECA) and FIFA.

AS Roma, who have a longstanding relationship with ICMEC, are helping to facilitate the project.

Last summer Roma proved how effective football could be in helping to raise awareness about the plight of missing children, when the club used transfer announcements on social media to highlight individual cases of young people who had disapeared.

Six children who appeared in the Roma videos were later found safe.

“Over one million children are reported missing around the world each year and while the majority may return home quickly and safely, many remain missing for longer periods of time,” said Bob Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer at ICMEC.

“On International Missing Children’s Day 2020, we are honoured to have the support of the global football community. With the huge following and global reach that these clubs boast, we hope that someone, somewhere could recognise one of the missing children in the videos and lead to a child being reunited with their loved ones.”

For more than 20 years, ICMEC has been leading efforts to make the world safer for children from abduction, sexual abuse and exploitation. Their work reaches across every continent, and ICMEC’s Global Missing Children’s Network brings together 30 countries to help recover missing and abducted children.

To mark International Missing Children’s Day, on May 25 each year ICMEC coordinates activities and campaigns to build awareness around the issue of missing children, celebrate those who have been recovered and remember those who are still missing.

“Football is the world’s most popular sport and ICMEC recognises the potential of the clubs to amplify our efforts to publicise the plight of missing children through their incredible social media presence,” said Caroline Humer, Vice President of Programs.

“We’d like to thank the ECA and FIFA for their fantastic support, every club who has agreed to participate in the ‘Football Cares’ Initiative and also AS Roma, who first approached us about the initiative and are helping ICMEC to put the campaign together.”

The following clubs have all agreed to support the ‘Football Cares’ Initiative on International Missing Children’s Day – with more clubs to be announced before May 25.

AEK Athens, Greece
Al Ahly SC, Egypt
Alianza FC, El Salvador
Astana, Kazakhstan
Asteras Tripolis, Greece
Atalanta, Italy
Athletic Bilbao, Spain
Atletico Madrid, Spain
Atromitos Athens, Greece
AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany
BAK, Hungary
Barcelona, Spain
Benfica, Portugal
Bofoakwa Tano FC, Ghana
Borussia Dortmund, Germany
Bulawayo Chiefs FC, Zimbabwe
Caps United, Zimbabwe
Celtic, Scotland
CFR Cluj, Romania
Chelsea, England
Chicken Inn FC, Zimbabwe
Cork City, Ireland
EB Streymur, Faroe Islands
Fehervar, Hungary
Ferencvaros, Hungary
FK Jelgava, Lithuania
FK Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Genk, Belgium
GFK Osogovo, Macedonia
Gokulam Kerala FC, India
Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Israel
Hittarps IK, Sweden
1899 Hoffenheim, Germany
Inter Milan, Italy
Jamshedpur FC, India
Juventus, Italy
KAA Ghent, Belgium
Kariobangi Sharks FC, Kenya
La Fiorita, San Marino
LASK, Austria
Lazio, Italy
Lincoln Red Imps, Gibraltar
Linfield , Northern Ireland
Liverpool, England
Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia
FC Lori, Armenia
Ludogorets Razgard, Bulgaria
Malmö FF, Sweden
Marseille, France
Olympiakos, Greece
Omonia, Cyprus
Panathinaikos, Greece
PAOK Salonika , Greece
Rangers, Scotland
AS Roma, Italy
Rosenborg, Norway
Saint Anthony’s FC, Scotland
Sekondi Hasaacas FC, Ghana
SJK Seinajoki, Finland
Slavia Prague, Czech Republic
Slovan Bratislava, Slovakia
Sutjeska Niksic , Montenegro
Tottenham Hotspur, England
Valencia, Spain
Viktoria Plzen, Czech Republic
Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia
VfL Wolfsburg, Germany
WSG Tirol, Austria
Young Boys, Switzerland
Zimbru Chisinau, Moldova
FC Zenit, Russia
FC Zurich, Switzerland

Clubs who would also like to support the campaign on May 25 can email footballcares@asroma.it for more details.