Among the 58,000 spectators at a sold-out Deutsche Bank Park for Friday’s 1-1 draw between Eintracht Frankfurt and SV Werder Bremen were 40 children and young people from the war-torn Ukrainian city of Mariupol, in the Donetsk Oblast province. The group, whose school in Myrnohrad, east Ukraine, also features a sports centre of excellence, spent six days in Miltenberg between 3 and 8 April.
“The group already visited us last year, but this time they brought their U11s, U13s and U15s,” explained Mirko Schmidt, chairman of the Miltenberger Spielverein, which organised the trip. “It was important to us to enable them to visit again. We organised everything and looked for – and found – sponsors, who helped us get the initiative going in the first place. We put the group up at the secondary school.”
We’re very grateful it all worked out.
Mirko Schmidt, chairman of the Miltenberger Spielverein
The pinnacle of their six-day visit was Eintracht’s Bundesliga match against SV Werder Bremen. “The trip to see the game was a huge highlight for the children,” continued Schmidt. “We’re very grateful it all worked out. The children are from the heart of the war zone – they’re all very affected and some of them have been hit by tragedy. They’re unable to train due to the air raid alert, so we’re all the more pleased that we can offer them this opportunity and a break from the everyday life of war.”
After visiting Deutsche Bank Park, some of the group took to the pitch themselves on Saturday for a friendly match against SV Viktoria Aschaffenburg’s U11 side.
