Game with Mum and Dad
In Italy and across Europe, the UEFA Foundation partner uses football to help children maintain their bonds with parents in prison – and to push for wider change to prison systems.
“I like playing with my dad, he's the best of all! Here, there are real goals and we look like champions.”
Five-year-old Michele is one of more than 100,000 children across Italy who regularly visit a parent in prison.
Since 2015, UEFA Foundation for Children partner project Game with Mum and Dad (GWMD) – created by Italian non-profit Bambini Senza Sbarre (Children Without Bars) – has transformed these visits for thousands of families. By providing opportunities for children to play football with their incarcerated parents, the project fosters increased connection through the power of play.
After 574 events across 11 years, GWMD has reached 23,450 people like Michele and his father, giving each a chance to maintain their bonds during difficult times in their lives.
Protecting the rights of children
Around the world, it is estimated that there are 22.5 million children with a parent in prison. Not only do these children experience grief and shame, but also stigma and discrimination from their peers, and they are often denied the fundamental right of maintaining a relationship with their incarcerated parent.
Bambini Senza Sbarre has been working for decades to address this issue in Italy, and the GWMD project is playing an important role in this effort.
Rather than meeting across a visiting table, children and their parents come together to play football or other games. It’s a simple idea: playing creates opportunities to laugh, communicate and reconnect. Shared experiences on the pitch lead to conversations, hugs and high-fives, helping strengthen the family bonds that imprisonment often strains.
“I hadn't seen my son so happy with his dad since before he was arrested,” said one mother.
“It’s a special moment,” said another incarcerated father. “We can spend two hours doing something different, playing together.”
Prison shouldn’t just be about punishment, but also an opportunity for a new beginning.”
- Patrizia Delfino, prison director
Changing the system
While the impact on the children and their families was the key driver behind the establishment of GWMD, the project has evolved into a wider effort to make systemic changes to the prison systems across Europe.
Looking beyond providing joyous but occasional moments of connection, the project advocates for more child-friendly, inclusive and open prisons that are better integrated into civil society.
“We’re thrilled to be able to host events like [Game with Mum and Dad], which focus on humanity, parenthood and the value of emotional bonds,” says prison director Patrizia Delfino. “Prison shouldn’t just be about punishment, but also an opportunity for a new beginning.”
Supporting families across Europe
Over the past few years, GWMD has expanded to other countries, with 229 projects reaching 5,600 children and 3,900 imprisoned parents across Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and the UK in 2024-25.
Ultimately, Bambini Senza Sbarre aims to take the project into as many prisons as possible, spreading these special moments to families throughout Europe.
“When the visit is over, my son goes home and I start crying,” said one mother. “Today we're staying together and playing.
“I'm happy, everything is different.”