ABOUT US
To me, we must learn to spell the word Respect. And then learn to play the game of life, as well as the game of athletics, according to the rules of society. If you can take that and put it into practice in the community in which you live, then, to me you have won the greatest championship.
Liberi Nantes is an amateur, non-profit, independent, non-religious, nonpolitical and entirely volunteer-based sportive association, founded in Rome in 2007 in order to promote and spread game and sportive practice as fundamental tools for human growth and social inclusion.
Among activities offered by the association: women’s and men’s football, touch rugby, hiking and urban trekking, Italian language teaching through sport, as a workshop to ease the learning.
Each year, the association reaches to more than 200 people, whose many are in a vulnerable situation, for whom sport represents a moment of leisure and escape as well as a vector for the reinstatement of human dignity, reconstruction of one’s person, relationships of trust and contact with others.
Liberi Nantes promotes and supports the construction of local, national and international territorial networks as a key element for its actions. The constant search for dialogue and capacity to build together is one of the strengths of the association.
OUR VISION
Liberi Nantes is an open community where we grow liberty, respect and welcoming together. We believe in gaming as an universal dimension of human growth and we offer sport as a meeting and mutual development tool.
info@liberinantes.org
“CAMPO SPORTIVO XXV APRILE”, sport center of Pietralata
In April 2010, the association took over the management of XXV Aprile,, a sport center born from a popular initiative during the 1960’s in the heart of Pietralata in Rome, which has been for years one of the major points of reference for the neighborhood community. At this place football is played, neighborhood parties are held, concerts and cultural activities are organized, and it is as well the headquarters of Albarossa, the team – symbol of this suburb - in charge of its management until the mid-1990’s.
In 2010, the field is in a half-abandoned state, no sport activity takes place regularly and numerous existing structures are in a condition of deterioration and abandonment.
Thanks to a huge effort in terms of volunteering hours and economical resources deployed, the association starts a slow but continuous recovery phase reaching its peak in December 2015 with the field homologation by the Italian Football Federation. This unexpected goal marks the beginning of a new story for the XXV Aprile and for Liberi Nantes, the first step towards the reopening of this historical area for the neighborhood and for the city.
Nowadays, tens of athletes practice sporting activities each week in the facility. The XXV Aprile also hosts again neighborhood parties as well as cultural and social events; the area is, therefore, once again shared and able to welcome and gather migrants and local communities.
The recovery activities of the XXV Aprile field are still in progress with an urban regeneration project which, from the restructuring of the field spaces, and with a function of use adapted to the new vision, aiming for a strong regenerative and value impact on the district and on the city.
OUR STORY
The name Liberi Nantes comes from the verse I, 118 of the Aeneid written by Virgil, that tells the sinking of one of Aeneas’ ships which was destroyed by the storm unleashed by Juno during the Trojan War. “Rari nantes en gurgite vaste” narrates the verse, i.e. “rare swimmers in the vast whirlpool” in reference to a few navigators who, escaping the war, manage to save themselves from the shipwreck.
The rari nantes of Virgil became Liberi Nantes: swimmers free to navigate in the waters of the Mediterranean and to escape wars, persecutions and dramatic humanitarian situations.
The undeniable right and liberty to imagine, to choose and to build a better future: it all starts here. In 2007, a group of friends sensitive to social issues linked to immigration as well as football fans decided in Rome, to create a football team just for fun, made up of refugees’ children and political asylum seekers. The welcome centers of Rome and its province, to which the initiative is proposed, respond with enthusiasm, and Liberi Nantes team is brought to life.
Game and sport are an undeniable right for the human being. From this essential hypothesis for that group of friends and dreamers, they fought for the team to participate to the championship in category which, due to a too complex bureaucracy, excluded those who have difficulties to present personal documents required for the membership.
During 12 years, the Liberi Nantes played the championship off the charts, without scoring ranking points, but it did not prevent them to stand out on the field and not only for their football skills: 5 times out of 10 the team was awarded the best fair-play score..
We will have to wait until 2019 because, after a long advocacy campaign,the Liberi Nantes, in partnership with the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), ASGI (Associazione per gli Studi Giuridici sull'Immigrazione); and the UISP (Unione Italiana Sport Per tutti) was able to get the National Amateur League to approve a simplification proposal which led to a historical result for the promotion of the integration through football, allowing the team to access – for the year 2019/2020 – into the first ranking championship..
In 2010, the association was given the management of a sport field in the heart of the historical Roman suburb, Pietralata. The XXV Aprile field.From that moment on, the Nantes would not have imagined how much this step will change their history forever.
TEAM
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In 2020, the Sport Unit of the European Commission has included the European project S(up)port Refugees Integration in the Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions in the field of sport booklet that collects the best initiative projects together in the field of inclusive sport.
Nel In 2019 in Naples, the National Amateur League, during the celebrations for the 60th years of its creation, has awarded Liberi Nantes with the “Pallone d’Oro” (the Ballon d’Or),, a symbolic recognition that we have been honored with thanks to the relevant work completed successfully by the association in the field of social inclusion through football.
In 2019 in Brussels, Liberi Nantes has received a Special Mention at the REVES Excellence Award dall’European Network of Cities & Regions for the Social Economy for the restoration works it has accomplished on the XXV Aprile sport center, the result of a partnership between Liberi Nantes, ATER (“l'Azienda Territoriale per l'Edilizia Residenziale”, namely “Territorial Public Body for Residential Construction”), the Lazio Region and other private entities.
In 2018 in Brussels, the European Commission has awarded Liberi Nantes, among 9 other finalist organizations, of the BeInclusiveAward for the work carried out on S(up)port Refugees Integration an European project entirely dedicated to women refugees and asylum seekers.
In 2013, Liberi Nantes has received the Nelson Mandela Monteverde Pasolini – Le ragioni dei sogni, le visioni della realtà, premio per la cultura, le arti, l’informazione ed il sociale” - an award dedicated to the Arts, Culture and Social commitment.
In 2010, during the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the Association was awarded with the Nelson Mandela Sports and Solidarity Award.
In 2019, Liberi Nantes has won the World Cup at the Antiracist World Cup for its second participation,the most important recognition of the event which awards the project having the greatest value for social inclusion and integration purposes.
From 2009 to 2018, on 10 participations to the Italian Football Championship, Liberi Nantes FC has been recognized 5 times with the Fair Play Award crediting the team with the best score in terms of fairness and respect for discipline.
OUR PARTNERS
English (UK) 
Italiano 
