MaxBet Football Championship, a humanity lesson

We don't know what others are like, but for us the challenge of organizing a new MaxBet Internal Football Championship came with beautiful memories, smiles and the start of new friendships. Lack of sleep and the work behind it were overshadowed by the satisfaction that we managed to bring over 500 people close for a single goal. That of supporting a social cause, of being close to their peers in dificult moments or of celebrating together. The involvement of each of you has made this event one of the most eagerly awaited event of the year.

The winning team, FCM STARS, together with the teams on the 2nd and 4th place, A-SEDIU and DN TEAM chose to fight for the cause of a 4-year-old boy at the 2018 edition of the Championship. His parents discovered at the age of 2 and a half months that something was happening to the little one, so following investigations made over time, they discovered that the child had serious vision problems. Some diseases can be operated and corrected, but other expensive investigations and treatments are needed for the rest of the diagnoses, treatments that can be done only outside the country, where there is specialized equipment. Following them, the little one will be able to see normally, without impediments.

Of the 35 teams entered in the competition, 14 chose the cause of Constanta County Hospital in order to purchase removing tumors medical equipment for its Neurosurgery Department. Among the 14 teams is the winner of the 3rd place, BOMBARDIERII 3.0. The County Hospital of Constanta has an enthusiastic neurosurgery department, in which young specialized doctors are recruted abroad, the device being very useful, given the high incidence of cranial tumors in this area of the country. It is the same medical equipment with which the Neurosurgery Department of the Grigore Alexandrescu Emergency Hospital for Children was sponsored.

The total amount earned by the 35 teams was 173,800 lei, and the money will go, among others, to the Iasi Children's Hospital, the Estuar Foundation, the ”My life” Association, the “A Chance for Mary” Association and many others. We have two teams that fought for their cause, so part of the total amount collected will go to the”Cuțu, Cuțu” and "Kola Kariola" Associations.

The participating teams gave their best to qualify for the higher stages of the tournament. This was seen on the field, but also in the eyes of the fans present at the games. As in previous years, the little ones were more inventive than their parents in shouting encouragement to the teams on the field, but even a simple ”Go, daddy, score!” it could resound louder than any slogan or whistle.

It seems that the idea of bringing a contest to the game, for everyone present at the competition, was successful, with a number of approximately 400 participants registered in the first weekend. The contest consisted of 3 attempts to hit the football gate’s bar from the middle of the field with the ball. All those who participated, however, will agree with us and will say that the most emotional moments were when we had the kids among the chosen ones. And what do you think? They went home with a prize!

Another aspect that is worth mentioning and that many have not seen is that one of the contest participants, Zonal Manager, after winning the prize, made an ad-hoc raffle with her teams and gave the voucher to the chosen one. However, our colleague did not give up and decided to donate the prize to the cause that his team supported - ALL BLACKS 151673.

Another nice story also comes from the contest, when a 3-year-old girl decided that the pacifier was much more important and ran away with it, after she arrived on the field and saw the crowd cheering her to hit the ball. What do you want? Some prefer to be real athletes only behind the cameras and we know that, because we caught her a weekend ago while dribbling two football players as tall as fir trees.

The ceremony of handing over the medals was performed by the same girl, an ardent fan of the A-SEDIU team, who did not give up the supporter's shirt until she left. However, she knew how to be fair-play and handed the cup to the winners of FCM STARS with a smile on her face.

We have no words to thank you for these two weekends. You have once again given us a free lesson in humanity. And for those who could not reach the championship, we recommend you to come next year. Someone who did not understand or like football until now tells you this. We promise you that you will feel great, surrounded by colleagues.