Michael Schumacher to let a benefit football match for charities in Hungary

(19 July 2005) - The MAI CASCO Football Grand Prix between Formula 1 drivers and a Hungarian All Stars Team will be played on 27 July 2005 (20:15 CET) at the Puskas Stadium in Budapest, and will be kicked-off by star tenor Placido Domingo. The proceeds will go to the Hungarian Association of SOS Children's Villages, the UNESCO-Kinder in NOT foundation, and the Transylvanian Saint Francis Foundation in Deva, in order to help children in need.

Seven times world champion Michael Schumacher will captain a selection of Formula 1 drivers comprising the Nazionale di Piloti team at the MAI CASCO Football Grand Prix, an event intended to raise funds to help children in need. Over the past decade, several such games are played worldwide per year.

The football team led by Schumacher, Alonso, Trulli and Baumgartner will be playing in Hungary for the first time and also includes past and present racing drivers Felippe Massa, Giancarlo Fisichella, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Luca Badoer, Ricardo Patrese, Ivan Capelli, Matteo Montezemolo, Giorgio Pantano, and Gabriel Tarquini. The match in Hungary also marks the first time SOS Children's Villages will be benefiting from a football match of the Nazionale di Piloti team.

"It is always a pleasure for me to play with my colleagues from the Nazionale di Piloti. It is a lot of fun - even more so as it is for a very good reason. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to be able to give something back to people who are less fortunate," said Michael Schumacher. "I am very much looking forward to playing in Budapest and I hope we will have a lot of fun."

SOS Children's Villages is a non-governmental and non-denominational organisation providing care for orphaned, abandoned and destitute children in 132 countries and territories. Some 60,000 children are cared for at 438 SOS Children's Villages and 346 SOS Youth Facilities. In addition, the organisation provides families with welfare and educational services. Some 130,000 children and youths attend SOS Schools, SOS Kindergartens and SOS Vocational Training Centres, while more than 690,000 benefit from SOS Medical and Social Centres and SOS Emergency Relief Programmes. SOS-Kinderdorf International is the umbrella organisation of all worldwide SOS Children's Villages.

The Hungarian Association of SOS Children's Villages was founded in 1983 and operates seven facilities in the country: three children's villages and four youth houses.

For more information on SOS Children's Villages please contact: Adriana Pontieri, Press Officer - Tel: +43-1 368 2457 2185, Email: adriana.pontieri@sos-kd.org

For more information on the MAI CASCO Football Grand Prix please contact: Careers Management Group , office@cmgroup.hu