Why do children with soccer players enter the stadium before matches?

Weather of Arabia - You may have watched the beginning of a football match, and noticed that each player from the competing teams enters the field, holding his hand with the hand of a child wearing a uniform that matches his sports uniform, and with the start of the game, the children, boys and girls, return inside.

This procedure raised a question about it, about its significance, who are these children in their sports uniforms similar to the clothes of the accompanying team, and why are they entering the stadium, and what are the goals behind that?

This procedure began in the late 1990s, when “FIFA” concluded an agreement with the “UNICEF” organization concerned with children and children, titled “Say Yes to Children,” and the agreement approved “involving children in appearing in the most important sporting events in football.”

The aim of this measure was to “highlight the importance of protecting children,” as well as “to encourage proper care for them,” and both organizations chose to “introduce children called “mascots” accompanied by football players from both competing teams, with Wearing a uniform similar to that of the players, in addition to the FIFA and “UNICEF” logos.

Over the years, the appearance of mascots at the start of matches was no longer related to the agreement between FIFA and UNICEF, but rather new reasons for this procedure developed.

The developed reasons were evident in the amulets being a deterrent against the public, as some opposing fans deliberately throw their waste at some players, but the presence of children prevents them from taking these actions.

Sports clubs now impose financial fees on children who wish to enter the stadium accompanied by famous players, and thus the clubs have devised a financial benefit from the procedure.

The entry of players accompanied by children gives their fans a sense of the humanity of this club, its service to society, and its support for children, especially if the child is sick or carries a human story.

Or if it was an orphan or poor child, what is born in the minds of the viewers that their favorite player or that their favorite team has a positive and humanitarian impact on society.

And about the way any child appears with his favorite club, this is done through the “Make a Wish Foundation” website, which is a non-profit organization established in the United States, aiming to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of children between two to 18 years old, who have chronic and serious diseases, or Some sponsors from major companies use children as mascots for the purposes of promoting them.

Thus, he took advantage of the children during their appearances for minutes with the players of their favorite team, for many purposes. Over time, the idea that football was a family-friendly game, caring for the child, and respected by different societies, was established, although it is not the only sport that involves children in its events.

It should be noted that the first appearance of the mascots was accompanied by football players in 1999 in the final match of the FA Cup, which was held between the English teams “Manchester United” and “Newcastle”.

"atlas-know"