Special shirt for Gamper game

During next Wednesday's Joan Gamper Trophy game against Mancehster City, the Barcelona players will wear a special shirt in the colours of the MÉS campaign. The shorts will be red.

1899 exclusive shirts will be produced and put for sale in Barcelona and at Barcelona's official online store. The shirts the player will wear next week will be auctioned.

MÉS is a partnership between FC Barcelona, Nike and the United Nations' refugee agency to bring sport and education to underprivileged youth and refugees around the world. The net proceeds from the sale of MÉS-branded products will be distributed to raise awareness and fund projects which contribute to sports and education for some of the most disadvantaged youth in the world.

visit the MÉS website here

Actress Eva Longoria offers herself to Barcelona

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that American actress Eva Longoria, most known for her role in the television series Desperate Housewives, has offered to become an ambassador for Barcelona in the United States.

Longoria became a Barcelona fan through Barcelona player Thierry Henry, a close friend of the actress' husband, French basketball player Tony Parker.

The actress, who has visited the Barcelona squad during the tour, would now have offered to become the image of Barcelona in the US, something that could open the door for sponshorship deals with American companies, usually nor very interested in football.

Barcelona would also be thinking about linking up with former football player Mia Hamm to reach out to American women. Barcelona officials would already have had informal contacts with the women's soccer icon and they would think Hamm would be perfect for a role as ambassador.

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Hollywood actor visits Camp Nou

Work of art auctioned for Barcelona foundation

Renowned Seattle artist Dale Chihuly has created a unique piece of commemorative art in celebration of FC Barcelona's historic international friendly against the Seattle Sounders FC. Proceeds from the auction will be split 50/50 between UNICEF and the FC Barcelona Foundation.

The Chihuly commemorative artwork titled, Chihuly Cilindro de la Esperanza, is a striking silvered cylinder emblazoned with the FC Barcelona crest. The hand-blown sculpture measures 18" x 20" and reflects the goodwill, hope and unity that both UNICEF and the FC Barcelona Foundation represent.

From 2006, the Fundació FC Barcelona began a new phase in which it changed direction and became the social identity par excellence of FC Barcelona. This point of inflection was marked by FC Barcelona's adhesion to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and the donation of 0.7% of the club's ordinary income to the Foundation to support its programmes and projects in 2006.

you can make a bid here

you can read more here and here


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Barcelona intensifies commitment to fight malaria
Barcelona leads fight against racism

Barcelona intensifies commitment to fight malaria

FC Barcelona committed itself to help in the fight against malaria by becoming one of the main supporters of the United Against Malaria (UAM) organisation. The American Major League Soccer (MLS), guided by FC Barcelona, have also joined the project.

A year ago, Barca joined the fight against malaria by supporting the Malaria No More organisation and this Friday the club made a further commitment by becoming a major member of the UAM group, who are preparing a worldwide campaign to coincide with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

read more here and here

Barcelona players inaugurate local football pitch

All Barcelona players took yesterday part in the inauguration of a small football pitch in Los Angeles.

read more and see more pictures here

Barcelona leads fight against racism

The European Club Association, UNESCO and FC Barcelona join forces for the inclusion of anti-discrimination and anti-racism clauses in new contracts with football players.


The 140 European football clubs members of the ECA (European Club Association) signed yesterday a Declaration reasserting their commitment to include anti-racist and anti-discrimination clauses in new contracts with football players. This Declaration follows an invitation by FC Barcelona to promote such clause.

The idea of an anti-racism clause in athletes' contracts emerged from the project "Youth Voices against Racism", an initiative jointly carried out by FC Barcelona and UNESCO and implemented through the European Coalition of Cities against Racism. The results and recommendations of the project were presented at the European Parliament.

ECA members intend to promote the inclusion of such clauses in the contracts to be signed as of today with football players. The President of FC Barcelona and vice-chairman of the ECA, Mr. Joan Laporta, chaired this event, that was also attended by Mr. Sergei Lazarev, Chief Struggle against Discrimination and Racism Section of UNESCO, Mr. Michele Centenaro, General Secretary of the ECA, and the former FC Barcelona player and anti-racism activist, Lilian Thuram.

"We have always rejected any form of intolerance both in stadiums and on the field, and we see football as an extremely efficient tool to fight violence and racism, and to promote integration in our society. I strongly believe in the power of football to fight racism and discrimination," said Mr. Joan Laporta. "We cannot do this work alone. We need powerful partners, such as Barcelona and the ECA," said Mr. Sergei Lazarev.

read more here
read a related article here


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Positive evaluation of collaboration with Unicef
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Iniesta gives away Stamford Bridge boots

Iniesta gives away Stamford Bridge boots

Barcelona player Andrés Iniesta has given away the boots he wore during the Champions League semi-fianl return game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for an lottery draw to the benefit of a five-year old child who suffers cerebral palsy and needs money for treatments in the United States.

An aunt from the boy had written Iniesta asking to sign a shirt and a poster, but in the post package she received, she also found the signed yellow boots.

Positive evaluation of collaboration with Unicef

source: fcbarcelona.cat





Barcelona president Joan Laporta travelled to New York this week to look back at the collaboration with Unicef over the past three years. The general outcome of the collaboration has been very positive with the support given to three Unicef projects which form part of the campaign "Unite For Children, Unite against Aids".

The ties between UNICEF and the FC Barcelona Foundation started in 2006 when the club signed an agreement with the international body for 5 years and an economic contribution of 1.5 million Euros per year with the aim of jointly carrying out programmes aimed at vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS, orphans or with risk of social exclusion.

In Swaziland, which is a country with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world. Barça and UNICEF are in a race against time to stop the vicious cycle of the infection. 1.1 million people are infected, more than 30% of children are orphans, 49% of women between 25 and 29 are HIV positive and 21.5% of children are born infected. The help from Barça has enabled to increase the means for the fight against aids. Recently, the alliance with UNICEF has expanded to the countries of Malawi and Angola.

The agreement between the FC Barcelona Foundation and UNICEF is set within the programmes of collaboration that the team from Barcelona carries out with the United Nations. Besides from collaborating with UNICEF, the Fundació FC Barcelona also has pioneer alliances with UNESCO and UNHCR / ACNUR (the UN agency for Refugees).

read more about the trip to new york here and here


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Possible post-season friendly against Arsenal

French regional newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace claims that Barcelona and Arsenal could play a post-season friendly game on 13 June in Strasbourg, in the northeast of France.

Racing Strasbourg general director Jean-Luc Herzog confirmed to the paper that talks are ongoing: "We have been contacted by someone from outside the club asking if they could use our stadium. We have given our principal agreement, but this is just the first stage. There's no witten confirmation yet. If it goes through, it will be organized under the auspices of Unicef."

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