Charity match with a special shirt to raise funds & awareness of ALS disease

Charity match with a special shirt to raise funds & awareness of ALS disease

This Wednesday 24th of August, the Spotify Camp Nou was dressed up to play more than just a friendly match. FC Barcelona and Manchester City played a match for a tribute to solidarity, in support of the cause of former goalkeeper and coach Juan Carlos Unzué, who was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) more than two years ago. Tickets went on sale last June and more than 51,500 tickets were sold.

The clash had all the possible sporting attractions. But, above all, there was the spirit of helping Unzué in the cause that now gives meaning to his life, which is to take advantage of his loudspeaker to raise awareness of ALS and the situation of his colleagues, and to generate events that give the possibility of raising funds. Thus, the main objective was to fill FC Barcelona’s stadium on 24 August and raise the largest amount of money ever for the fight against ALS.

Beneficiary of the event

Francisco Luzon was diagnosed with ALS in 2014 and created the Luzón Foundation with the aim of helping to find a cure for this terrible disease, uniting all the agents involved in this goal. Francisco Luzón’s widow, is the executive president of the foundation, an independent, non-profit organisation that works to raise funds for research and to improve the quality of life of ALS sufferers and their families, together with patient associations, researchers and social and healthcare professionals.

The objectives pursued by the foundation as well as FC Barcelona through this event were to raise awareness of ALS in society in order to make the disease more visible, reduce diagnosis times, improve medical treatment and the quality of social and health care, and promote research to find a cure.

The Shirt

On this same event FC Barcelona unveiled what was going to be their third kit for the 2022/23 season. The shirt showcases Barça’s commitment to social causes, diversity and inclusion, core values that underpin its motto of being ‘more than a club’. For that reason, the players from the Barça Genuine Foundation team have been chosen to be the main protagonists, along with footballers from the men’s and women’s first teams.

The club’s social commitments are also manifested in this strip through the prominent presence of the Cross of Sant Jordi (Saint George) in the design. 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the awarding of the mentioned Cross by the Government of Catalonia to FC Barcelona in recognition of its contributions to the betterment of society and its leading role in the promotion of sport, as well as its values in relation to sport, civic duty, and solidarity, which make it so unique in the sports world.

These values are also being reflected in the way that the strip is being officially presented. For the first time, it will not only be players from the men’s and women’s first teams who will be helping to unveil the new design, but also those of the Barça Genuine Foundation team made up of boys and girls with functional diversity who have been competing since last season in the statewide LaLiga Genuine Santander.