Football Federation Australia (FFA) today announced that some of the greatest international footballers of the past decade have agreed to play in a blockbuster bushfire relief match at Sydney's ANZ Stadium, to raise funds and honour thousands of brave volunteer firefighters and State Emergency Service personnel.
Star players from 16 nations, including some of the biggest names in Australian football, will line up in the #FootballForFires match on Saturday, 23 May to say "thank you" to the men and women who have participated in the daily fight at the frontline of the Australian bushfires crisis.
The first release of football greats confirmed for #FootballForFires is a who's-who of the world game and includes Didier Drogba, Dwight Yorke, Claudio Marchisio, Dario Simic, John Aloisi, Dwayne De Rosario, Ji-Sung Park, Simon Colosimo, David Trezeguet, Alecko Eskandarian, Mark Bosnich, Con Boutsianis, Pedro Mendes, Le Cong Vinh, Emile Heskey, Michael Bridges and Geremi. It is also a chance for Australian fans to celebrate and say goodbye to retired Socceroos captain Mark Milligan.
FFA Chief Executive Officer James Johnson said he was delighted that football had come together for this very special occasion.
"The thoughts of the entire football family have been with the victims of these terrible bushfires over the past few weeks," Johnson said.
"We now we have this important opportunity to harness the power of our global sport to raise funds to assist in the re-build of our local devastated communities, and honour the brave men and women who have put their own lives at risk during this unprecedented natural disaster.
"I'd like to thank the NSW government, Football NSW and Northern NSW Football for their support of this event, and Lou Sticca and Tribal Sports Group for their work in pulling together such a great list of players.
