The plight of the people in Kerala is so dire now that aid is coming in from all quarters and Serie A giants AS Roma have pledged their support with a heart-warming gesture.
The 2018/19 Serie A season got underway on the weekend and the Giallorossi secured a 1-0 away win at Torino thanks to Edin Dzeko’s last-gasp winner.
They will now play their first home game of the campaign against Atlanta on Monday night and the tie at the Stadio Olimpico will be noteworthy for very special reason indeed.
Roma have pledged to auction off five match-worn jerseys from their opening home game to raise money for the people of Kerala and it’s no wonder this post is going viral on Twitter, for all the right reasons:
UPDATE: After #ASRoma‘s first home match of the Serie A season, the club will auction off five match-worn shirts from our first team players to help raise money to donate to the disaster fund to #RebuildKerala #KeralaFloods #KeralaFloodRelief #RomaCares https://t.co/ntpHnYNJub
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) August 23, 2018
While most clubs have posted messages of support for the stricken Indian state, nobody has made such a gesture till now.
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The EU and several countries have offered financial support in the wake of the natural disaster, but the Indian government has declined to accept any foreign aid.
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Relief operations are underway in the coastal state, but rehabilitation will take months and it remains to be seen if the tourist haven can fully recover from the catastrophic damage it has suffered in the past two weeks.
Over 300 people are said to have lost their lives since torrential rains started battering the coast on August 8 and many thousands have been displaced.