Geneva/Marseille March 16, 2007 — UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors Ronaldo and Zidane announce that around 40 friends and colleagues will be joining them on the pitch for the Match Against Poverty on March 19 at the Stade Velodrome at 8.30 pm in Marseille, France.

Among those in the 40–player line–up are Robert Pires (Villarreal) De la Pena, Tamudo and Kameni (Espanyol), Sergio and Cristian(Deportivo) Gaby Milito, Diego Milito and Aimar (Zaragoza) Pernia and Luccin (Atletico de Madrid) Abbondanzieri (Getafe) Cufre, Givet and Gerard (Monaco), De Cock (Anderlecht) Gallas and Julio Baptista (Arsenal), Hakan Suekuer (Galatasaray) Roque Junior (Bayer Leverkusen) Marco Caneira and Ronny (Sporting Lisboa), Marquinho, Ricardo Silva, Paulo Sousa, Peter Jehle and Fernando Dinis (Boavista), Correa, Rebrov, Diogo Rincon and Rodrigo (Dinamo Kiev), Sami Al–Jaber (Al–Hilal), Rivaldo (Olympiakos), Robinho (Real Madrid) Ronald Zubar (Olympique Marseille) Laurent Robert (Levante) Manuel Morais (Vasco da Gama), best Brazilian player in 2006 and the ex professional football players Dragan Stojkovic, Sonny Anderson, Chris Waddle, Basile Boli, Fabrizio Ravanelli and Laurent Blanc. More confirmations of top international names are expected shortly.

Other sporting celebrities taking part include 7 times Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, who already participated in the 2004 edition of the Match Against Poverty held in Madrid. The pilot will be listed in Ronaldo’s team for this event

Ronaldo and Zidane will each captain an international side for this friendly aimed at inviting the public to mobilize against poverty. The Match also seeks to remind that everyone is responsible for ensuring the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were adopted in 2000 and re–affirmed by the leaders of 191 countries at the UN Summit in 2005. The Goals seek to halve world poverty by 2015 by setting targets for rolling back hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women.

Among the coaches of the Match Against Poverty, Spanish Vicente del Bosque, two times winner of the Champions League with Real Madrid has confirmed his participation.

Italian Pierluigi Collina will be the referee of the game for the 4th consecutive time. More than 20 TV channels around the world are expected to broadcast the match live.

As for the preceding editions, all proceeds from ticket sales will go to projects selected by UNDP in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Proceeds from the first three Matches allowed supplying 3000 children in Haiti with didactic and scholastic material; building a healthcare centre and a school in the Democratic Republic of Congo; employing and training 350 people in construction in Sri Lanka where 75 sanitation facilities and 44 community toilets were installed and water installations established; opening a vocational training center for young blind people; creating small enterprises for women in the Comoros, Guinea Bissau and Burkina Faso; training 1200 employees of 200 small companies in Namibia as well as 93 producers of guava in Colombia; and to build sports centers for low income communities in Morocco. Other anti–poverty actions were funded in Brazil, Bhutan, Cuba and Vietnam.

Ticket Purchase:
Ticket prices range from 10 Euros up to 25 Euros and can be purchased online at:
http://www.francebillet.com 

For further information please contact:
Aziyade Poltier–Mutal, tel +41 22 917 83 68, e–mail:
Jean Fabre, tel +41 22 917 85 42, e–mail:

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners.

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