FC Barcelona presents a new official colour, 'Lila Barça', in support of International Women's Day
FC Barcelona, in line with its strong commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion as established in the Club's Statutes, and in light of International Women's Day on 8 March, the Club wishes to set in motion various initiatives to highlight the importance of giving visibility to women in the world of sport. With that idea in mind, the Club has joined forces with Pantone to create a new symbolic colour for equality which comes from the mixing of the Clubs' original colours of blue and maroon and has the official name 'Lila Barça' whilst at the same time becoming part of the company's universal guide to colour.
'Lila Barça' is the star of the video manifesto 'Equality is in our colours' which the Club has created especially for the occasion and stars women's first team player Alexia Putellas. In the video a voiceover recounts the similarities between the team's development and recent success and the marriage of blue and maroon which have resulted in the new colour of equality. A creation that is championed by the women's first team, one of the most important role models in the journey towards equality in society and the world.
The presence of 'Lila Barça' will also be at the forefront of the Club's initiatives which revolve around International Women's Day, both digitally and in person, in order to strengthen the blaugrana message in favour of equality for millions of people.
'Lila Barça' will cover Spotify Camp Nou and the Estadi Johan Cruyff during the entire month of March, starting this weekend for the men's team game against Valencia on Sunday at 4.15pm CET and the women's game against Villarreal at 12pm CET. Club partners will also form part of the initiative to highlight women in football as Nike, Spotify, Bimbo, Cupra, Damm, Whitebit, Allianz, Konami, 1Xbet, Caixabank, Stanley, BMG, GLS and Scotiabank will integrate the new Pantone colour into their pitchside advertising during both games.
On a digital level, the Club will also promote 'Lila Barça' on their social media which will boast an exclusive filter for use on Instagram and Facebook.
A club leading the transformation toward equality in society and the world
This promotional initiative around International Women's Day goes much further with a variety of projects from various areas of the Clube aimed at different audiences.
One of the main activities will be the participatory day dedicated exclusively to the Club's female members which will also see institutional vice president Elena Fort involved. Next Thursday, in an event that is expected to be full to capacity, female members will get together with 10 female Club employees to share their experiences as key figures in a working environment historically associated with men.
On 8 March itself at the Auditorium at La Masia there will be a talk organised by the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Department in collaboration with La Masia in which the winner of the gruelling Marathon des Sables race in 2022 Anna Comet will take part. The talk will revolve around informing the girls and boys at La Masia about resilience and strength, dealing with success and how to combine elite sport with being a mother and having a family.
Also organised by the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Department, there are two training days, 3 and 6 March, for the Club's employees. The sessions are devised to put into practice the values of diversity and the identification of unconscious bias and are led by consultant Laia Arcones, teached in equality and diversity and expert in unconscious bias.
From the Barça Foundation the focus has been on community projects such as a joint training session with the FC Barcelona Veterans Group and a group of refugee women in exile from the Associació Esportiva Ramassà, and NGO from les Franqueses del Vallès, dedicated to social integration, which took place on Monday 27 February; as well as the subsequent match which will take place on Monday 6 March between the players and the women from Franja de Besòs which will take place at the University of Barcelona facilities at 6.30pm CET.
Furthermore, first team player Lucy Bronze met a group of female refugees from Afghanistan, Honduras and Ukraine at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper. Bronze, who regularly works with UNHCR, heard the women and their families' stories first hand and shared a space with them to enjoy some leisure activities. The FC Barcelona Foundation and UNHCR collaborate on various projects with child refugees from Uganda, Colombia, Turkey and Malaysia.
A story of support and recognition for more than half a century
FC Barcelona works continuously to promote the role of women in the world of sport with their efforts focused on advancing equality and highlighting the role of women in the world of sport as well as their commitment to women's sport, in particular football, which dates back more than 50 years.