La Liga clubs in refugee aid

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Eibar are among the La Liga clubs to have pledged aid to the refugees being taken in by Spain.

Los Blancos announced via their official website on Saturday that they would donate €1m to support “the men, women and children who have been forced to leave their homes in order to flee war and death”.

The news comes after Madrid President Florentino Perez called Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to discuss the financial contribution and other measures the club will launch to assist in the care of refugees arriving in the country.

Among the initiatives discussed, the capital giants will make some of their facilities available to the governmental commission in charge of overseeing refugee reception.

Barcelona, meanwhile, are set to hold a meeting with their socios in the coming days to confirm a project, which will entail a significant donation and other measures designed to aid refugees.

Lionel Messi, a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, wrote on his official Facebook account: “This kind of thing should be unthinkable in the 21st century.”

“We are concerned about the situation of thousands of refugees arriving in Europe every day as a result of the war. We join the whole international community in calling for a rapid solution to this tragedy. ‪#‎LeoMessiFoundation‬ ‪#‎ChooseToBelieve‬,” he added on his Leo Messi Foundation page.

Finally, Eibar have promised to donate €5 from each ticket sold for their match against Atletico Madrid next week to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Tags Lionel Messi Unicef
La Liga - Club News