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Due to its geographical position, Italy is often one of the first points of entry into Europe for people in exile. In 2022, over 20,000 unaccompanied minors arrived in the country, according to official data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, representing a 53% increase on the previous year.
PLAY International in partnership with Italian sports club Liberi Nantes and Think Tank Sport & Citoyenneté have launched a new project REPLAY - Refugees PLAY United supported by the European Commission. REPLAY is an initiative aimed at integrating and including young refugees within sports clubs in Italy.
Identify local needs
Shortly after the launch of the project last September, PLAY International teams travelled to Rome to carry out an in-depth analysis of local needs. PLAY and Liberi Nantes teams met with social workers, educators, psychologists and young refugees.
This diagnosis enabled the PLAY teams to gain a better understanding of the needs of professionals working in the social and sports sectors, while identifying the concrete contributions that this project could offer them. This analysis highlights the major issues at stake, while also underlining the limits of possible actions, as some of the problems raised go beyond the scope and objectives of the project.
Nevertheless, three priorities emerge from this diagnosis. Firstly, it seems essential to strengthen the links between the different sectors, particularly the social, sporting and educational sectors. In addition, training for sports clubs must become a priority if we are to work in depth on the subject. Finally, an intersectional approach to the issues identified (taking into account disability and gender) needs to be integrated into the project to best meet the needs of professionals and refugees.
Next steps: a strategic and innovative method
This field diagnosis has enabled the teams to identify the key levers they need to work on. The next stage of the REPLAY project involves co-creating innovative teaching tools to provide professionals with the resources they need to provide the best possible support to Italian sports clubs.