Attitude’s (Accidental) Allies Award: The Russian national football team
The team unwittingly raised £170,000 for LGBT+ causes during the World Cup this summer thanks to Paddy Power.
By Steve Brown
Russia’s national football squad have been given Attitude’s (Accidental) Allies Award at the Virgin Holidays Attitude Awards 2018, powered by Jaguar.
The story of our unlikely LGBT allies began when Irish bookmaker Paddy Power approached the fledgling Attitude Magazine Foundation with a daring proposition just ahead of World Cup kick-off in Moscow in June.
For every goal (and own goal) the host nation scored during the tournament, Paddy Power pledged £10,000 to fund a number of causes dedicated to making football more LGBT+ inclusive.
The Irish bookies donated a minimum of £5,000 to the cause to ensure there were no losers in the campaign – which became known as #RainbowRussians.
However, few would have foreseen the extraordinary eff orts of the host nation when inspired to aid the LGBT+ community…
After Russia unexpectedly made it through the initial group phase and into the knockout stages — prompting Paddy Power to up the ante to £20,000 a goal – they then knocked out Spain before falling to Croatia in the quarter finals (albeit while scoring twice), so the final tally accrued by Vlad’s lads was a whopping £170,000.
“We’re glad to celebrate the incredible impact Russia made on the LGBT+ community at this year’s World Cup”, say Paddy Power in our November Awards issue. “It took a lot for them to come out in support.
“We are proud not only to have donated £170,000, but also to have given the Russian football team a new LGBT+ fan base.”
Read more about the winners from the Virgin Holidays Attitude Awards 2018, powered by Jaguar in the November Awards issue of Attitude, out now.
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