Sport is a powerful instrument: it connects people, cultures and societies while trying to teach good values as loyalty, friendship and support.
In these past years Italian soccer has been under the microscope for scandals, betting and bad behaviors from both players and supporters but, despite all this, someone still evaluates the good that sport can really offer: back in 1997, in fact, Inter FC started a project to help children in need in more than twenty countries.
Its mission, called “Inter Campus,” [2] was born as a cooperation program whose aim was to use soccer as an educational key to restore the right to play for children aged between six and thirteen.
The project, founded by the President of Inter FC Massimo Moratti and now directed by his daughter Carlotta, counts twenty-four countries and over 200 local instructors who keep helping over 10,000 children all around the world, from China to Argentina through Cameroon and Angola.
This no-profit company, also partnered by local NGOs and private sector businesses, provides assistance to children using youth soccer programs that can educate them while playing with the great values of sport.
Through all these years Inter Campus has been a success due, among other reasons, to the help of Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores, who directed a documentary about the program and its goals that has been projected at the 61st edition of the Locarno Film Festival.
But Inter Campus doesn’t stop and stare: in fact, despite all the great developments through the years, it still wants to enlarge its commitment adding another country to the program. It’s indeed the turn of Tunisia, which will officially become the 25th country involved in the project.
The creation of this new campus will be presented at the United Nations [3] on November 28th, together with the launch of a new partnership with the UNOSDP Youth Leadership Camp, a part of the Sport for Development and Peace department of the United Nations.
These presentations will be held in front of the General Assembly entrance at 6:00 pm and will feature the Italian Permanent Representative Ambassador Cesare Maria Ragaglini, the president of Inter FC Massimo Moratti, the UN Under Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace Wilfried Lemke and the Tunisia Inter Campus Testimonial Afef Jnifef.
At the event there will also be several soccer players, including Luis Figo and Francesco Toldo.
Source URL: http://newsite.iitaly.org/magazine/focus/life-people/article/inter-campus-united-nations
Links
[1] http://newsite.iitaly.org/files/inter-campus-united-nations-new-york-2012
[2] http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?N=41438&L=en&CAT=14
[3] http://www.un.org/en/