Football stars and a leading fashion designer have teamed up with IANSA in the campaign for a Gun-Free World Cup. The campaign highlights the fact that guns will be banned from South African football stadiums for the duration of the event (11 June – 11 July).

One of the players to wear the t-shirt designed by fashion designer Katharine Hamnett with the slogan ‘Don’t Shoot: Gun-Free World Cup’ is Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez. He said: “When I was growing up in Fuerte Apache, Buenos Aires, I often heard gunshots at night, and I had to choose between following my dream and giving my all to football, or falling into a life of crime. Hopefully, the World Cup will inspire kids in South Africa in the same way. Guns have no place in sport, or in society. And if it’s possible to have a Gun-Free World Cup, why stop there?”

Early this year, Togo’s football team bus came under machine-gun fire while on its way to the African Cup of Nations. Hibernian FC defender Sol Bamba, who played for Ivory Coast during the African tournament, said: “The World Cup is an opportunity for everyone to celebrate what is great about Africa. We should all work together to make sure the violence that threatened the African Cup of Nations is never repeated.”

Also supporting the campaign is Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar from South Africa. “I've had a few experiences with guns,” he said. “I grew up in one of the rough neighbourhoods in Johannesburg so, for me, guns were just like a normal thing. But sport and football kept me focused, and that helped a lot. The IANSA Gun-Free World Cup campaign will help the young kids too, I hope, and will help to educate the people.”

Striker Roque Santa Cruz from Manchester City FC, who is one of the stars of Paraguay’s national team, and midfielder Gareth Barry from Manchester City and England’s national team are also supporting the campaign. Other footballers are expected to join the campaign soon.

IANSA’s Africa coordinator Joseph Dube said: “The fact that guns have been banned from football stadiums for the World Cup is great news. The tournament is a chance for Africa to celebrate – and it would be a fitting legacy if all the competing nations took encouragement from the South African example, and worked to reduce gun violence in their own countries.”

You can support the call for a Gun-Free World Cup by joining the campaign’s facebook group.