Another success for Roma’s Missing Children initiative
AS Roma have confirmed a missing teenage girl has been found after featuring in the club’s social media posts announcing the signing of Chris Smalling.
Smalling completed a permanent move to the Serie A side from Manchester United on transfer deadline day after spending last season on loan at the club. A tweet confirming the deal also featured an appeal for information on the whereabouts of the girl – part of Roma’s ‘Missing Children’ initiative, which they started over a year ago.
On Wednesday, a further tweet from the club confirmed the girl, who also featured in transfer announcement tweets for the arrivals of Borja Mayoral, Marash Kumbulla and Pedro, had been found safe.
SAFE! A teenage girl from Italy who featured in #ASRoma's 'Missing Children' transfer videos for @ChrisSmalling, @Mayoral_Borja, Marash Kumbulla & @_Pedro17_ has been found safe.
To date, 7 kids featured in Roma's 'Missing Children' videos have been found safe ❤️ @ICMEC_official pic.twitter.com/mDUfVsDmrS
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) October 7, 2020
In an interview given to JOE last year, Paul Rogers, Roma’s Head of Strategy, explained the thinking behind the club’s initiative:
“There are two goals here,” he said. “First, it’s to track down the children that are featured, but it’s also to raise awareness of the issues and the work charities are doing for missing people.”
“Some people might think it’s quite strange,” he added. “But if our goal is to help, the transfer window – when we’re getting most traction – is the time to do it.
“We could tweet out a picture of a missing child at any time of year, but more people are going to see it when it’s linked to a signing.”
So far, a total of seven children who have featured in Roma’s transfer videos have been found.
