REPLAY: Sport and engaging refugees in the city of Rome

The project is funded by the European Commission and is coordinated by PLAY International together with the Italian amateur sports club and association for social inclusion Liberi Nantes and the Belgian think tank Sport & Citizenship.

REPLAY is a pilot program to integrate young refugees into local sports clubs as part of the local community. PLAY International is in charge of the education material design and training of sport educators to ensure inclusivity, with Liberi Nantes responsible for local implementation and inclusion of refugees through sport. These activities are situated in the heart of the city of Rome, and take place in the Campo Sportivo XXV Aprile, a historic sport facility of the neighborhood built on public land, and therefore giving refugees the possibility to directly connect with the local community. Finally, the Belgian think tank Sport & Citizenship accompanies these initiatives by cooperating on public policy and advocating improved access to sport for refugees across Europe.

During the initial stages of the project, PLAY International conducted a diagnosis in Rome to map out local key challenges with social workers, sports professionals, and refugees themselves. This detailed diagnosis indicated the need to strengthen connections between sporting, social, municipal and educational sectors; and training sports clubs for sustainable inclusive practices.

To address these outcomes, REPLAY started a pilot phase with the objective of developing new educational tools for Italian sport educators, with the help of inputs gathered on the field from Liberi Nantes coaches. Then, the project will aim at incubating five Italian sports clubs starting in September 2025, with training focusing on welcoming refugee participants, establishing connections with social bodies and municipalities, and adapting sport practices to become overall more inclusive.

The project aims also to reinforce the club-city bond, an important part of Liberi Nantes' networking strategy for valuable impact, and will try to transmit this concept to the participating clubs in order to reinforce their ties with local communities and facilitate their inclusion. Indeed local authorities and municipalities have an important part to play in the inclusion process, notably through making sporting facilities accessible. The social ties that practicing sports together creates with the local community is precious in making refugees feel a sense of belonging.