A football team of asylum seekers in the Southern province of Taranto has made it into the Promozione level, the sixth tier of the Italian football league system.
The team is an initiative of the Talsano amateur sport association and is made up of young African migrants mostly from Gambia living in reception facilities managed by the assciation Salam. Some already played football in their home countries. The team has the economic and moral support of the Spi Cgil Puglia pensioners organization.
Celebration in Taranto
The players celebrated their achievement during an evening event titled "L'Africa di via Mediterraneo contro razzismo e discriminazioni" or "Africa and the Mediterranean against racism and discrimination" in Maria Immacolata Square in Taranto. The event was attended by the cooperatives that work for migrants' integration on a daily basis and some of their guests. During the evening the Talsano Africa United players described their day-to-day life in Puglia.