With three months to go until UEFA EURO 2016 kicks off, the Henri Delaunay Cup, which all of Europe’s greatest footballers would love to get their hands on, is setting off on a journey to meet supporters all over France.
From 1 April to 9 June, the UEFA EURO 2016 trophy tour train, decked out in the tournament colours, will take young and old on an adventure to discover the European Football Championship of today and yesterday, getting the public in the mood for this summer’s festival of football and giving them a foretaste of the activities being organised by the UEFA Foundation for Children.
The UEFA Foundationa for Children is supporting three children’s projects in connection with UEFA EURO 2016.
20,000 Children’s Smiles: the foundation is inviting 20,000 disadvantaged or vulnerable children to attend matches at UEFA EURO 2016, meaning that 2,000 children in each host city will get the chance to enjoy the unique UEFA EURO 2016 experience.
The foundation is also supporting the EURO Foot Jeunes tournament, which will take place just before UEFA EURO 2016, from 29 May to 5 June. Organised by the national union of school sport (UNSS) in Lens and Lille, it is the largest schools tournament of the year and will involve girls and boys from the 30 European countries that have not qualified for UEFA EURO 2016.
The third project being supported by the foundation is an international solidarity tournament being organised by the Sport dans la Ville association as part of streetfootballworld Festival 16. This festival will take place in the heart of Lyon from 28 June to 7 July and will bring together 500 children and young people from disadvantaged communities all over the world, who have been chosen for their desire to change the world through football.
A giant UEFA EURO 2016 ball will be aboard the trophy tour train and will be signed by local dignitaries at each of the different stops as a sign of their support children throughout the world and their right to play football. The UEFA Foundation for Children will then present the ball to Sport dans la Ville at the international solidarity tournament. Sport dans la Ville encourages the social and vocational integration of young people from underprivileged neighbourhoods in France through sport.
The trophy tour departs from Saint-Denis and will stop for the public in Paris (Gare de Lyon), Caen, Amiens, Lens, Mulhouse, Nancy, Lille, Clermont-Ferrand, Limoges, Libourne, Poitiers and Brest, before returning to Paris again (Gare Montparnasse) and then heading to Tours, Nantes, Toulouse, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice, Dijon, Saint-Etienne, Besançon, Reims, Lyon and Strasbourg, before rounding off the tour in Paris (Gare du Nord).