It is a common practice for many years now. So much so that many soccer fans have naturalized it in such a way that few wonder where this practice began. It is nothing less than theplayers going onto to the field accompanied by children. Here we tell you why this is done and when it started.
The soccer World Cup is always an event that attracts thousands of spectators all over the world, including many people who don’t usually watch soccer. That is why, for many, the players going onto the field accompanied by children seems something new, a real peculiarity.
However, it is something that has been done for many years, and not only in the World Cups. In games of the UEFA Champions League, Club World Cups, Copa Libertadores and even in local leagues such as the Premier League, the Bundesliga or Serie A, it is not unusual for this to happen. But why?
Why do soccer players walk out with a child?
About this there are several theories and little evidence to rule them out as true. Some of them are that the teams do it to earn money by charging the parents of the little ones for having this privilege; Others claim that it is a way to prevent people from throwing things onto the playing field and there is even talk that children in soccer matches are a way to encourage fair play (since children are a symbol of innocence).
The truth is that this tradition has its origin in the Korea-Japan 2002 World Cup. It was a campaign called Say Yes for Children, whose purpose was to improve and protect the lives of children around the world and demonstrate that soccer can make a difference. a difference in them. To do so, the players were accompanied by children wearing a FIFA / UNICEF jersey.
