FC Bayern Munich will support refugees coming to Germany by way of a one million euro ($1.1 million) donation and holding a special training camp, Bavarian club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge announced on Thursday
Berlin: FC Bayern Munich will support refugees coming to Germany by way of a one million euro ($1.1 million) donation and holding a special training camp, Bavarian club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge announced on Thursday.
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"We at FC Bayern consider it our socio-political responsibility to help displaced and needy children, women and men, supporting and assisting them in Germany," Rummenigge said.
Bayern has plans to organise a training camp for young refugees in the coming weeks, in addition to providing suitable meals and football kits.
Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter and Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann welcomed the initiative of Bayern, describing it as an "exemplary" one.
At the club's next match against FC Augsburg on September 12, the players will be escorted onto the Allianz Arena pitch hand-in-hand with a German child and a refugee child as a mark of support for the integration of refugees, according to Bayern statement.
The team will also donate one million euros for future refugee projects, bbc.com reported on Thursday.
Parts of Europe have seen an influx of migrants, with many from Hungary wishing to be in Germany.
Bayern plan to provide football equipment, German lessons and food for the children.
"Bayern sees it as its social responsibility to help the refugees," said club's CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
The number of refugees entering the continent has broken records this year, largely because of the conflict in Syria. Germany expects to take in 800,000 asylum seekers this year - four times last year's total.