A man of heart, with proven societal commitment, Blaise Matuidi, the tricolor world champion, was present this Friday in Bry-sur-Marne on the occasion of a conference on sickle cell disease. This blood disease, linked to a hemoglobin anomaly, affects nearly 12,000 children in France. It is wreaking havoc in Africa in particular, where the association “Les Tremplins Blaise Matuidi” of the former international, without a club since his departure from Inter Miami in February 2022, is very active, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the parents of the player had taken refuge from Angola because of the civil war before coming to France.
Since June 2017, the 35-year-old midfielder has been one of the strong voices of children with sickle cell disease. A fight he leads to inform, educate and warn the general public about this genetic disease. “We had heard of sickle cell disease, but we weren’t aware of the extent of the problem. When you hear its fatality rate among children under 5 in Africa, it sends shivers down your spine, explains Matuidi. I was lucky to have a normal childhood, then to become an adult. These little ones, too, have this right and I have to meet them, to make myself useful to the medical profession at my small level. Part of the actions carried out by its associative structure is, therefore, directed towards this cause. “It is important to give voice, he repeats like a mantra. If everyone on their own scale gets there, it will already be a step forward and believe me, we will save a lot of lives. »
“Bringing smiles back to children”
It was already this visceral need to give back that had encouraged him to create with his family, in 2016, the Tremplins association. ” I am healthy. I made my passion my profession. I am, I am aware, a privileged person. I also have an aura that allows me to help, he recalls. When we talked about it with my dad, he said to me: “you had this chance, it is now up to you to give back what you have received”. With the Association, we seek to bring light and help, to mobilize and be preventive. Its structure is also committed to uniting young people around festive events in order to promote inclusion, “create unforgettable moments” but also to raise funds in order to undertake even more actions for the benefit of young people in difficulty!
Also a member of the office of Génération 2018, the solidarity endowment fund for world champions, currently involved with the Pink Blouses, Matuidi will fly to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Monday. He will visit, in particular, an orphanage which was able to see the light of day thanks to the actions carried out by “Les Tremplins” and where a school construction project is in the pipeline. “Our main mission is to make children smile again,” he sums up. Thus the footballer and his association organize several events each year, such as football tournaments in Clairefontaine, visits to children’s hospitals, but also concerts.