(image taken from the Tgr Rai Tuscany video news).
M. Gozzini Prison, Florence, Italy – 7 June 2025. ‘Game with Mum and Dad’, which is taking place in dozens of prisons across Italy this June, was held on Saturday, 7 June at Florence’s Gozzini prison in the form of a penalty shoot-out. The event, scheduled for 9:30 a.m., started a few minutes late to allow time to finish mowing the football pitch where the eagerly awaited meeting between children and their imprisoned parents was to take place.
The ten fathers who took part in the project—created, promoted and organised throughout Italy by Bambinisenzasbarre and its network partners—welcomed their children (15 in total), their partners and accompanying adults directly onto the pitch. Upon their arrival, following emotional greetings of long hugs and kisses, everyone shared sweets and cold drinks together.
Once the scoreboard was set up, the penalty shoot-out tournament began. It was an exciting and emotional game, with everyone cheering on the players and applauding the goals scored by the youngest participants.
(image taken from the Tgr Rai Tuscany video news)
The morning unfolded in a peaceful and cheerful atmosphere, with the fathers playing an active role in involving their children in the game. This direct involvement of imprisoned fathers or mothers and their children is one of the defining features of Game with Mum & Dad (Partita con mamma e papà in Italian) project. The initiative is conceived as a special meeting—a ‘very special conversation’—between children and parents in prison, and serves as an effective tool for initiating, strengthening and maintaining the vital parent-child relationship, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Art. 9.3 UNCRC, 1989).
At the end of the tournament, everyone had lunch together, enjoying pizza kindly provided by the Pantagruel Association, which collaborated with Bambinisenzasbarre to organise the prison event.
The GMWD event was attended by Prison Commander Paolo Iozzino and Head of Educators Raffaello Zambotto Riggio. Floriana Battevi, co-founder and vice-president of Bambinisenzasbarre, and Emanuela, one of the association’s professionals working within the Florentine facility, were also present. Floriana and Emanuela actively participated in the game, coordinating activities, organising the tournament, preparing the scoreboard, refereeing, cheering and having a great time.
A crew from TGR Rai Toscana also attended the GWMD event at Gozzini prison and filmed a report, which was broadcast the same day in the 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. news programmes.
The ‘Game with Mum & Dad’ campaign is organised by Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) and made possible with the support of the UEFA Foundation for Children, following a model created and developed by Bambinisenzasbarre, which works nationwide in Italy. The campaign aims to strengthen, maintain, and enhance the bond between children and their imprisoned parents, and to generate systemic, child rights–based change across prison systems.
The project includes a multi-month programme during which imprisoned parents, their children and family members—supported by educators—are monitored and involved in a series of meetings. The programme culminates in the ‘Game with Mum & Dad’ match, marking the conclusion of the initiative.
Comments from the event:
“A day like this, inside the prison, is priceless. There are no words to describe it. We thank those who had the idea to organise it.” — An imprisoned father
“I believe this is the foundation for continuing to have a relationship with your child. And then, playing out here in the open air with them, it doesn’t even feel like being behind bars.” — An imprisoned father
“We immediately joined the Bambinisenzasbarre project precisely to ensure that prisoners with young children have the opportunity to spend time with them outside regular visiting hours and away from the traditional prison setting.” — Raffaello Zambotto Riggio, Head of Education, Gozzini Prison
“In prison, it means a lot. Spending a day like this doesn’t even feel like being in prison. It’s important for us and for them, because it’s the children who suffer the most.” — An imprisoned father
“GWMD allows children to experience normal moments inside the prison with their mum or dad. It is an effective tool for pursuing one of our association’s main goals: maintaining the bond between children and their imprisoned parents.” — Floriana Battevi, Vice President, Bambinisenzasbarre
“The hope is that this marks the beginning of a new future—and that, for these families, the bars will one day be just a distant memory.” — Paolo Iozzino, Commander, Gozzini Prison, Florence
