While soccer unites hearts, children do countries. The Spanish Embassy has held a charitable auction, Soccer United Our Hearts to Help Children, aimed at helping Ukrainian children. The Spanish diplomatic initiative received support from the Soccer Federation of Ukraine and the Ukrainian office of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). All the auctioned lots consisted of soccer jerseys and balls with autographs of Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk players as well as Real Madrid and Barcelona stars. What caused the greatest stir was a ball with Barca players’ signatures, which Maksym Khramov, general manager of the FFS Kyiv regional office, bought for a record 6,200 dollars. The ball of the Catalonians’ arch rivals, Real Madrid, went to Anatolii Yurkevych, ex-deputy chairman of the Kyiv Oblast Administration, at a far lower price of 2,100 dollars. Asked about how autographs were taken from the players of Spain’s most prestigious clubs, Jose Rodriguez Moyano, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Spain to Ukraine, said it was a very easy thing to do because the players agreed to take part in this charity without any hesitation. For example, attending the Shakhtar vs. Barcelona match, Mr. Moyano asked the Catalonians to put their signatures to the ball. They sent the signed jersey by mail. The funds raised at the auction – about 20,000 dollars – will be channeled into UNICEF projects, including the establishment of a family center at the village of Tseptsevychi, Rivne oblast, and the formation of an Odesa street children’s soccer team.
