Rafael Nadal’s Early Christmas Present for Roger Federer

A Christmas treat for tennis fans has been announced: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will play an exhibition match in the Hallenstadion in Zürich on December 21st, 2010. The match will be held in support of the Roger Federer Foundation. The event goes under the official title of The Match For Africa. Tickets will be available as of September 1st from Ticketcorner.

The match will start on 20:30 and will also be shown on Swiss Television. With a ticket for the match you are entitled to a 20 percent reduction on all train tickets within Switzerland should you need to travel to Zürich from wherever you are. Ticket prices are not yet available but will be announced on the homepage of Ticketcorner as soon as they are set.

The announcement of the event was done by Roger and Rafa in a joint video. Though there are several viral versions already available on YouTube, these ‘making of’ excerpts are all heavily edited. A fuller (and extremely funny) video may be accessed through Swiss Television. The video proper is mostly in English, just bear with the short Allemannic introduction.

The event will be fully sponsored by bank Credit Suisse which guarantees that your money will fully benefit Roger’s good cause. On top, Credit Suisse announced a hefty donation linked to the event which will go directly to the Foundation and is earmarked for use in Africa. Credit Suisse and Roger Federer have signed a sponsoring deal some time back; the involvement of the bank is therefore no big surprise. Credit Suisse has opened a Facebook page in support of the event.

The Roger Federer Foundation is a Foundation under Swiss law and is a fully registered charity. It spends 10 percent of its funds on sporting activities for underprivileged children in Switzerland and 90 percent in the poorest countries of Africa. It currently has projects in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Roger’s special link to South Africa comes through his mother Lynette who is South African.

There is some rumour (which is probably true as well) that a similar event will take place in Spain in 2011 in favour of the Fundaciòn Rafa Nadal. Rafa had announced his Foundation in February this year; the Foundation is registered under Spanish law and is a fully registered charity. It currently has two projects running; one is a school in India (as a joint venture with the Fundaciòn Vicente Ferrer) and the other is sporting activities for disabled children in Spain (as a joint venture with the Spanish Olympic Youth Committee).