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World Rugby supports #TargetEbola

19 | 11 | 2014

World Rugby, the International Federation formerly known as the International Rugby Board [IRB], has joined other International Federations in supporting the WOA’s #TargetEbola campaign.  To demonstrate their support World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset and CEO Brett Gosper posed for pictures with #TargetEbola t-shirts at yesterday’s World Rugby ConfEx in London.

This came after WOA Chief Executive, Mike Miller presented to delegates urging members of the global Rugby family to get behind the campaign. Addressing the conference, Miller encouraged delegates to help the WOA raise awareness in order to combat the spread of Ebola in West Africa.

Earlier this week, Rugby Sevens legends, Fiji’s Waisale Serevi and England’s Ben Gollings, appeared in a YouTube video backing #TargetEbola and asking rugby players and Olympians alike to join together in a show of sporting solidarity to raise money to help stop the spread of the virus. 

World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset said:

"Rugby is proud of its values of friendship and solidarity. Given the support for World Rugby’s own partnership with the UN World Food Programme through our Tackle Hunger campaign, we know everyone involved in Rugby will want to help our friends in need in West Africa by also supporting the #TargetEbola campaign and donating at targetebola.org/donate."

World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper said:

“With Rugby back on the Olympic Programme in Rio in 2016 we are delighted to join our fellow Olympic International Federations in supporting the World Olympians Association’s #TargetEbola campaign. We ask everyone in the Rugby family to give what they can at targetebola.org/donate.”

#TargetEbola was launched last month following a plea to the WOA from two-time Sierra Leone Olympian Francis Dove Edwin, who has been appointed to the Presidential task force to fight the spread of the virus in his home country. Since then the WOA has teamed up with international aid organisation Oxfam and US humanitarian NGO Medisend International to deliver much needed supplies to West Africa.

#TargetEbola has the support of some of the biggest names and the greatest role models in the Olympic Movement including Olympic legends Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis, Sergey Bubka, HRH Prince Albert of Monaco, Claudia Bokel, Koji Murofushi, Pernilla Wiberg, Johnny Quinn and Yang Yang

The WOA is appealing to the rest of its 100,000 strong Olympian community and the wider sporting family around the world to get involved and promote #TargetEbola, the donation link, www.targetebola.org/donate, and the SMS details, Text TARGET to 70066 [UK only], by posting selfies via social media.

The #TargetEbola selfie kit can be downloaded here: www.targetebola.org/selfie

Olympians and the general public are encouraged to print off the kit and pose for a selfie.

Alternatively anyone can write #TargetEbola, www.targetebola.org/donate and the SMS number on a piece of paper and take a selfie with it.