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This weekend, Madrid Cricket Club will partner with UNICEF, the UN agency for the protection of children, to organise the first Solidarity Cricket Tournament in Madrid, Spain.

The tournament will be held on Saturday 6th October 2007 at the “Cantarranas” sports facilities in the Complutense University Campus, and all funds raised will be donated to the UNICEF campaign. Invitations will be sent out to embassies and consulates in Madrid from cricket-playing countries urging them to take part in the event and put together a team. Private sponsorship will also be sought in an effort to increase the event’s impact and raise additional funds.

Madrid Cricket Club will provide the equipment and logistical know-how to arrange a cricket tournament of this type, as well as fielding a team to take part.

Cricket is very popular in many of the countries that are most affected by childhood AIDS, including the West Indies, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The local tie-in between UNICEF and Madrid Cricket Club comes just months after the International Cricket Council signed a landmark agreement with UN agencies to utilise the values of cricket in the global fight against AIDS among children and youth.

UNICEF’s “Unite for Children, Unite for Aids” campaign has four key goals:

• to prevent transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from mother to child;
• to enhance access to antiretroviral medicines for those children and youngsters who need them;
• to run educational programmes to raise awareness and help avoid HIV transmission;
• to provide more support to boys and girls who have been orphaned due to AIDS or are vulnerable.

For further information, please contact the Madrid Cricket Club.