Football Federation Australia (FFA) announced today (Tuesday) that Sydney’s ANZ Stadium will host a legends football match in May to raise funds for the bushfire relief effort in Australia.
The #FootballForFires match will take place on May 23. As well as raising funds for those affected by the fires, the event will honour volunteer firefighters and state emergency service personnel.
Among the ex-footballers that will play in the match are Didier Drogba, Dwight Yorke, Claudio Marchisio, Dario Simic, John Aloisi, Dwayne De Rosario, Ji-Sung Park, Simon Colosimo, David Trezeguet, Alecko Eskandarian, Mark Bosnich, Con Boutsianis, Pedro Mendes, Le Cong Vinh, Emile Heskey, Michael Bridges and Geremi. The match will also give Australian fans the chance to say farewell to retired Australian national team captain Mark Milligan.
Venues NSW, which owns ANZ Stadium on behalf of the New South Wales government, will provide the stadium free of charge for the match. Money from ticket sales and donations will help rebuild bushfire-affected football clubs and facilities.
Lou Sticca, managing director of Tribal Sports Group and organiser of the match, said: “Volunteers will receive an allocation of tickets to the game and the Firefighters and SES members will fill the supporter areas at both ends of the ground and, along with thousands of football fans, will create a fantastic atmosphere at ANZ Stadium.
“As Australia says thank you, all service members and volunteers in attendance will also undertake a pre-match lap of honour. It will be a ticker-tape parade for our heroes on the frontline.”
Tickets for the match will go on sale later this week, with adult tickets starting from A$29 (£15/€18/$20) and family tickets from A$59. More than 40,000 tickets will be made available.
Earlier this month, it was announced that ANZ Stadium will host a concert on February 16 to raise money for the bushfire relief effort. Fire Fight Australia will feature the likes of Queen and Adam Lambert, 5 Seconds of Summer, Olivia Newton-John and Michael Bublé.
Image: Adam.J.W.C.
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