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Football

22nd Nov 2018

Serie A players to play with red marks on faces to raise awareness of domestic violence

Simon Lloyd

Italy’s top flight has partnered with WeWorld Onus again

Serie A’s players and match officials will have red stripes on their cheeks for this weekend’s fixtures as part of a campaign to raise awareness of domestic violence against women.

The Italian top flight has partnered up with non-governmental organisation WeWorld Onlus for the campaign which will also see women attending matches wearing special shirts in support of the initiative.

This isn’t the first time that Serie A have supported the campaign, with players also wearing red marks on their faces during games towards the end of last season.

Its return has already gained plenty of support on social media, with several prominent players – both past and present – tweeting about it with the hashtag #unrossoallaviolenza (‘a red card to violence’).

On Tuesday, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Francesco Toldo pledged their support for the campaign as they were pictured at the WeWorld Onlus launch event.

“Violence is a cultural problem,” Toldo, the former Italian international goalkeeper, said. “In order to solve this problem, our sons need to be taught the right values and that they need to show respect.”

Serie A’s first game after the final international break of the year comes at 2pm on Saturday afternoon, when Roma travel to Udinese. League leaders Juventus play later in the day against SPAL before Inter Milan host Frosinone in the final game of the day. A further six games will take place on the Sunday with Cagliari’s game at home to Torino being played on Monday night.