Milan on the pitch with the mothers’ surnames on the shirts

The shirts with the surnames of the players' mothers will be worn on Saturday 11 May, during the home match against Cagliari

ROME – On the occasion of Mother’s Day, for the first time in Italian football, the male and female players of Milan will take to the field carrying their maternal surname on their shoulders instead of the one usually worn, to once again turn on the spotlight and create new awareness on the right to personal identity of every individual. On 27 April 2022, the Constitutional Court declared the rule requiring the automatic attribution of the paternal surname to be discriminatory. From the following 1st June, according to Italian law, both parents must be able to share the choice of the surnameof their children, as it is a founding element of their personal identity.

The special shirts with the maternal surnames will be worn by the men’s First Team on Saturday 11 May, on the occasion of the home match against Cagliari, who enthusiastically joined the initiative together with five other clubs from Serie A. As in every match, the shirts will be auctioned on MatchWornShirt and part of the proceeds will be donated to the Milan Foundation, which on this occasion will donate it to support its ‘A Goal to Dream’ project, which promotes the female empowerment through sport in Pakistan. The women’s first team will instead show off their maternal surnames on Sunday 12 May, when they face Napoli away.

On the occasion of the match to be played at San Siro, the maternal surnames will be added to the paternal ones during the announcement of the lineups both through the speaker’s voice and on the graphics shown on the stadium’s giant screens. Furthermore, among the boys and girls who will enter the pitch with the Rossoneri players at the start of the match, the Club will also welcome some small beneficiaries of the ‘Mother-child Corner‘ project promoted by the La Rotonda association, dedicated to support for mothers with children aged 0 to 2 years. A delegation from the same project will be present in the stadium stands to watch the match.

Giorgio Furlani, CEO of Milan, declared: “We are happy and proud of this initiative born on a special occasion such as Mother’s Day to raise public awareness on equal rights regarding the choice of surnames of our childrenwe are equally pleased with the attention and enthusiasm with which it was welcomed by Lega Serie A and for the participation of several other clubs in our championship of Milan, which has always promoted positive values such as social equality and gender equality, to contribute to a common and shared cultural change”.

“In my human and professional growth – added Davide Calabria, captain of the Milan men’s first team – my mother was the most important person. She sacrificed everything for me, she taught me spirit of sacrifice and dedication. Wearing his surname on the pitch this weekend will be a great pride for me“.

Valentina Bergamaschi, captain of the women’s first team, commented: “My mother is the most important woman in my life and I am proud to represent a club which, on such a special day, chooses to create awareness on issues as important as the freedom to choose the surname of their children. Gender equality also depends on the name we give to things“.
The initiative, born in collaboration with Serviceplan Italia and promoted by the Lega Serie A , is part of Milan’s commitment to promoting the values of equity, diversity & inclusion and contributing to positive change inside and outside the world of football.