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News > Sport

Cristiano Ronaldo Shows Support for Syria Refugees

  • Cristiano Ronaldo

    Cristiano Ronaldo | Photo: Reuters

Published 14 March 2016
Opinion

The soccer star posted a photo on Facebook with his son while holding a picture of a Syrian refugee boy.

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo made headlines Sunday when he posted a photo with his son Cristiano Jr. on social media website Facebook in order to draw attention to the plight of Syrian refugee children.

The 31-year-old Real Madrid star posted a photo with his son at home while holding up a picture of a Syrian boy. The caption with Ronaldo’s photo read: "#SaveSyriasChildren like 5 years old Ayman* who loves playing football as much as Cristiano Junior."

#SaveSyriasChildren like 5 years old Ayman* who loves playing football as much as Cristiano Junior. http://bit.ly/1nhusVN

Posted by Cristiano Ronaldo on  Sunday, March 13, 2016

Ronaldo has been outspoken in his support to Syrian refugees, especially those arriving on European shores amid increasing anti-immigration sentiment on the continent.

In fact, he has been a global artist ambassador for Save the Children since 2012 and has used his position and fame to keep the issue of Syrian children refugees alive.

“Cristiano Ronaldo understands how vulnerable children are at that age,” Save the Children President and CEO Carolyn Miles said in a statement Sunday. “With Ronaldo's help, we can keep the focus on the children of the Syrian war, many of whom have known nothing but war their entire life."

Save the Children said Aymen, who is featured in Ronaldo’s photo, “saw and heard things that no child should see, from armed men breaking down doors, to dead bodies lying in the street to sirens going off at all hours."

The Syrian refugee boy is now enrolled in a Save the Children-supported kindergarten in Jordan where he lives with his parents in a refugee camp. "There, he began to speak -- through the help of a caring teacher, his supportive parents and a love of soccer that blossomed," the organization said.

Last September Ronaldo invited a father and son to one of his games after they were intentionally tripped by a Hungarian camerawoman as they fled a Hungarian holding camp. The incident was caught on tape and went viral, drawing widespread condemnation.

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