Socceroos launch appeal for quake/tsunami victims

Australia’s national football team, led by English Premier League star Tim Cahill, on Friday launched an appeal for the earthquake and tsunami victims of Samoa and Indonesia.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) said it will donate one dollar for every fan who attends the Socceroos’ matches against the Netherlands in Sydney on Saturday and against Oman in Melbourne next week.

FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said the money raised will help rebuild or re-equip sporting facilities in Samoa and Indonesia.

Everton midfielder Cahill, whose mother is Samoan, said he hopes the fundraising will encourage more people to come to the matches.

“As an Australian with strong ties to Samoa, I am so proud that football and (team sponsor) Qantas are making this gesture to help young people in Samoa and Indonesia,” Cahill said.

“It is a measure of how far the game has come in recent years that we are able to do so.”

National carrier Qantas said it will make a 25,000 Australian dollar (23,000 dollar) contribution to the victims.

Cahill has also lent his name to a UNICEF Goals for Africa campaign to raise money for HIV/AIDS awareness in Angola and a life skills education program in Cote d’Ivoire.

An undersea earthquake generated a tsunami last week which killed 184 people in the Pacific nations of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, while the official toll from the September 30 quake in Padang, Sumatra, has reached 739.