Totti puts children first

AS Roma playmaker Francesco Totti has been named as a goodwill ambassador for the children's charity UNICEF.

Maldini's lead
Totti has becomes the second Italian footballer to take up such a position, following in the footsteps of AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini. As a goodwill ambassador, Totti will take part in campaigns to promote and protect the rights of children around the world.

School ceremony
The 27-year-old Italian international, who will wear a new UNICEF captain's armband on Sunday when Roma face Piacenza Calcio, said: "As soon as I have the chance I will go to the places in the world where kids are suffering the most." He was appointed at a ceremony at the Di Donato primary school in Rome yesterday, a school mostly attended by children originally from Africa.

Help needed
"I have taken this decision because I love children," Totti added. "I want to stay in contact with them because I know how important it is for kids to have a famous person close to them. I want to do my best to help them as much as possible. As an ambassador I will try to be an example for them both in and off the pitch."

Call for support
Totti, who has been capped 33 times by the Azzurri, called on fellow footballers to follow his lead. "All the world of football should be more involved in this problem," he added. "We, as footballers, have everything we desire but we must think more often about kids who are currently suffering."

Campaign launched
UNICEF - the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund - introduced the 'Say Yes to Children' campaign last year. The organisation said there were 120 million children who were not attending school, 250 million children who were working, eleven million children dying every year from malnutrition and 18 million who were underweight.