Charity football match set to help raise funds for children of Gaza

The Anwar El Ghazi XI v Nujum Sports XI charity football game is scheduled to take place at The Hive in London at 3pm on the 1st of June. All proceeds from the game are to go towards helping children in Gaza.

El Ghazi is best known to UK football supporters for his time at Aston Villa as well as playing for Ajax, PSV Eindhoven in his native Holland and Lille in France.

Nujum Sports aims to ’empower Muslim athletes’. According to its website it has spent over five years “contributing to the understanding of Islam in the sports industry.”

Founder and CEO of Nujum, Ebadur Rahman, said: “All children need to be protected and cared for no matter what their socioeconomic background, ethnicity, or faith. Our duty of care goes beyond borders, and we must act now to make sure our response is genuine, impactful, and urgent.”

Rahman has praised El Ghazi for “championing” such an initiative and for speaking out against injustice and advocating for all Palestinian children.

While the game is set to feature a strong line up of players, organisers have stressed that line ups are subject to change.

Some of the names advertised to participate include former Manchester United and Arsenal forward Robin van Persie, former Arsenal and Manchester City defender Bacary Sagna, Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure, Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury and Manchester-born Zidane Iqbal (pictured above), who is with FC Utrecht and represents Iraq at international level.