Young people from Italy, Africa, Europe : migrants, students and young prisoners. Many different worlds united by a football, two goal posts and the desire to win, on and off the pitch. This is the idea behind Atletico Diritti, a sports club in the Italian capital that uses football to promote rights, respect and integration. A team for unity The idea was born in 2014 as a result of the synergy between two associations, Antigone and Progetto diritti; the former works on rights for people who have been deprived of their freedom and monitors conditions in prisons, while the latter works across the country to guarantee migrants' rights. "Together, we had the idea of creating a football team. Now we also have a cricket team and we are working to create a basketball team," says Carolina Antonucci of Atletico Diritti. "We use sport as a tool for broadening rights and freedoms. The original idea was to bring together different categories of people: those who have had problems with the law, and those who emigrate in search of protection or work," she adds. University students are the third pillar of this team, thanks to a partnership with Roma Tre university, which has supported this project from the outset. In official tournaments, in spite of the difficulties, the football team competes in the national amateurs' league championship in the third category in the Rome province. The cricket team also takes part in the federation championship."Sport is the simplest language, it unites all social categories. Everyone knows the rules of play," the teams' representatives tell ANSA. For two consecutive years, Atletico Diritti has won the "Discipline Cup," a fair play award for any team that continues activity despite problems with rules and red tape. "For the young people who come from within the justice system there is the problem of play permits, which are difficult to obtain," Antonucci says. "For foreigners, the big problem concerns membership: the Italian football federation FIGC has very strict limits for foreigners, who are asked for documents they cannot produce," she explains. Consequently, it is practically impossible for an asylum seeker to become a member, with the result that the young people who train cannot play in the official matches. On an amateur level, sport is "an incomparable tool for integration, but we want to reiterate that this right must be recognised on an official level," Antonucci says. Many nationalities united by football The players are aged between 20 and 40 and come from various countries: Cape Verde, Senegal, Albania, Venezuela, Gambia, Argentina, Eritrea, Tunisia, Mali, Nigeria and Italy. "We have had an average of approximately 80 players in these last years. Our aim is to grow and to create a network so that all young people, including those without documents, can play," Antonucci says. "It is an outlet, a pastime for those awaiting the outcome of their asylum application: it is incomprehensible why they should not at least be allowed to play. Sports is an incomparable instrument of knowledge and integration, because we are all equal on a playing field," she empahsizes.

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