“Refugee PLAY United: Integrating Young Exiles in Italy Through Sport”

The “Refugee PLAY United” project is a groundbreaking initiative designed to integrate young exiles into Italian communities through sport. Against the backdrop of a growing migration crisis, which saw over 20,000 unaccompanied foreign minors arrive in Italy in 2022 alone, this project tackles the barriers that prevent refugee children from accessing sports and building connections with local youth.

Background and objectives

The arrival of unaccompanied foreign minors in Italy has soared in recent years, with many coming from Tunisia, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Ivory Coast. Yet, for these young migrants, sport, a universal tool for social inclusion, remains out of reach due to fragmented legal frameworks, limited access to facilities, and a lack of national coordination. The “Refugee PLAY United” project aims to address these challenges by using sport to foster integration, promote well-being, and strengthen ties between refugees and host communities.

Its goals are threefold: to support the community integration of young exiles, help them adapt to and connect with their new environment, and inspire other sports clubs to follow suit by sharing best practices.

Process and partnerships

The project started with a pilot phase at Liberi Nantes, an Italian football club renowned for its work with refugees. Led by PLAY International, an organization specializing in education through sport, and supported by the Think tank Sport and Citizenship advocating for sports-based policies, the initiative will test and refine innovative tools for inclusion.

A first diagnostic was conducted in Rome in September focused on understanding the needs of sports clubs and professionals working with young refugees. Key lessons include:

1. Enhancing sector collaboration between social, sports, and educational fields.
2. Training sports clubs to better support refugees.
3. Adopting an intersectional approach to address gender and disability issues.

These findings will inform the development of tools to support sports clubs in refugee inclusion, with details to follow soon.

After the pilot intervention, the program will expand to five other clubs across Italy, each supported by PLAY International’s incubator to ensure they are fully equipped to welcome young exiles, a call for expressions of interest will take place from June to September 2025.

Experiment in a local area and multiply in Europe

Alongside these local activities, Sport and Citizenship will drive advocacy efforts to influence national and European policies, promoting access to sports licenses for refugees and fostering a more inclusive approach to migration challenges.

With years of experience in promoting refugee inclusion through sport, Sport and Citizenship has developed valuable expertise through local partnerships with organizations like “Emmaüs Solidarité” and European initiatives such as FIRE and FIRE+. These projects, which successfully used football to integrate displaced individuals across Europe, provide a strong foundation for tackling the complex challenges of the current migration crisis.

This initiative is more than a response to the present challenges, it is an investment in the future. As migration to Europe continues, “Refugee PLAY United” serves as a blueprint for how sport can pave the way for integration and inclusion, preparing societies to welcome the diverse populations that will shape tomorrow’s Europe.

The Refugee PLAY United project was launched on 8 November 2024 and will run until early 2026. Stay tuned, as we will soon be sharing the first lessons learned from this project.