A partnership started during the 2016 Football People weeks between the Spanish club Burgos CF and the refugee association ACCEM is joining forces once again to celebrate the power of football for inclusion on the International Migrants Day.

“We came up with this idea because we wanted to organise an initiative during the Fare action weeks against racism that would bring fans, the club and refugees together” said the social department of the club currently playing in the Spanish Segunda División B.

On the International Migrants Day, 18 December, Burgos CF will invite a group of refugees to attend their match against C.D Boiro and will make a stadium announcement marking the day. On social media the club will celebrate all its fans living across the globe through the hash tag #BurgalesistasAusentes and a map will highlight the countries where Burgos CF fans have migrated to.

“The event on Sunday will celebrate those who chose Burgos as a host city and all Burgos CF fans that live abroad, far from their city and club.

“At the same time, it will be an opportunity for ACCEM to make their work known; they will have informative stalls in different areas of the stadium” the club explained.

Created in 1991, ACCEM works to improve the lives of people in vulnerable conditions or at risk of exclusion, in particular refugees and migrants.

During the Football People weeks the club and the association joined efforts to raise awareness of the situation of refugees and tackle racism. A group of refugees were invited to attend a match and line-up next to the players, while the latter showed a red card to racism.

“There are two main goals behind both initiatives. The first is to promote a message against racism and the role of football for inclusion. The second is to give visibility to Europe's refugee crisis and show that this is a reality that is not that distant from us, there are refugees living in our city” said the club.

The partnership will continue throughout the season. Groups of refugees will continue to be invited to attend home matches and in 2017 new partnerships will be established to further their inclusion in the capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León.

To highlight both the International Human Rights Day, 10 December, and the International Migrants Day, Spanish second division team Rayo Vallecano, organised an anti-racism week, #RayismoContraElRacismo, in which the club donated a percentage of its ticket sales to refugees, invited refugees to added a match, organised a football tournament, talks about racism and activities for refugee children living in Madrid.