São Paulo – The game ball that will be used in the soccer game between Corinthians and Ceará on Sunday (6) morning at Arena Corinthians, in Itaquera district, for the Brazilian League, will be handed to the main referee by a Syrian child. She will be one of 44 refugee children that will take the field wearing the jersey “Team of the Peoples”, an initiative organized by Corinthians, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the non-profit organization Lar Sírio, the Archdiocesan Caritas of São Paulo, the Association of Sales and Marketing Directors of Brazil (ADVB) and by the development and construction company Cury.
From the total of children, 18 were born in Syria and 26 are refugees from other countries, according to UNHCR. Kaysar, who participated in the reality show Big Brother Brasil, will serve as a translator for the children that don’t speak Portuguese.
The aim is to raise public awareness about Syria’s humanitarian crisis. Cássio, the goalkeeper and Corinthians’ team captain, will wear a captain’s armband with the UNHCR logo. The players’ names on the jerseys will be written in Arabic – and some of them will be auctioned after the game. Banners will be distributed to the fans and the stadium’s screens will display messages for peace.
According to UNHCR, over half of the 22.5 million refugees across the world are children.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
