UEFA used Wednesday’s Super Cup final in Udine to issue an unusually direct humanitarian appeal, allowing nine refugee children to unfurl a banner on the pitch that read “Stop killing children, stop killing civilians.” Players from Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur lined up behind the message moments before kick-off at Stadio Friuli, giving the plea global television exposure. The children—now living in Italy after fleeing conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Palestine and Ukraine—were brought onto the field by the UEFA Foundation for Children. They were joined by 22 player mascots and dozens of local youngsters in what the European football governing body described as an effort to highlight the vulnerability of minors in war zones. UEFA paired the display with the launch of a new programme, developed with several international aid organisations, to deliver emergency support to children in Gaza and other areas affected by armed violence. The move marks the first time the body has permitted an overt human-rights statement at one of its flagship fixtures and comes a week after critics faulted UEFA’s muted response to the death of former Palestinian footballer Suleiman al-Obeid in an Israeli airstrike.