UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP team Zebre Parma sent a bus to Ukraine to bring 49 members of players for a Kyiv rugby club to safety in Italy.
The Italian side said that most of the 49 people aboard the bus that returned to Parma last night were women, children, and the elderly.
Those aboard the bus were the families of players from the Kyiv RC Polytechnic team, with Zebre helping them to escape the threat posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Zebre president Michele Dalai said the players of Kyiv RC Polytechnic have remained in Ukraine “to fight, by choice and by necessity.”
The link between the clubs developed several months ago when a Ukrainian player from RC Polytechnic turned up to watch a Zebre game in Italy. Discussions about the two clubs connecting in purely rugby terms have now become something very different.
“A frightening drama has engulfed all those kids and their families, the world has turned upside down and many of them are struggling to survive right now,” said Dalai.
Zebre reported that all those who travelled on the bus were “in good health” upon arrival in Parma.
The Italian club have also launched a fundraising campaign to support the Ukrainian families, while they are also asking locals in Parma for help in hosting them.
“We did what we felt was right to do at a time like this,” said Dalai
“If we say we are a big family, it is in these situations that we have the opportunity to prove it.”
