Napoli doing their part to aid Syrian refugees

Europe is wracked with a refugee crisis right now, with people from war-torn regions like Syria flooding into the continent trying to find safety and a new future. Unfortunately, they aren't always met with open arms, and as often as not they wind up herded into "camps" that leave them no better off than they were before.

Recent tragedies have thrust the crisis into a worldwide spotlight, however, and as they often do, football clubs are starting to bring their financial power to bear in an effort to help. Many Champions League teams are donating a euro to relief charities for every ticket sold for the first round of their group stage matches, and despite being in the Europa League, Napoli are following suit.

Aurelio De Laurentiis has pledged Napoli's support to the cause starting with their match against Club Brugge on September 17th, and while their final donation total from the gesture might not be large -- Napoli's Europa League group stage attendance numbers have not been good over their last few entries -- it will likely not be all the club does on that front. De Laurentiis has been active in charity efforts in the past, and when he finds a cause he wants to support, he does it.

Very few Europa League clubs have joined the cause so far, implying that Napoli are doing this because they want to, not because everyone else is. The support effort, mostly started by German clubs following their country's strong support of the refugees' cause, has been seen as somewhat controversial, given the divisive nature of the subject.

While it seems easy to say "hey these people need help let's help them," it's not quite that simple. Europe and refugee problems go back a long, long ways, and it's not a pretty history. For as long as there's been refugees heading to big European countries, there's been antagonistic parties trying to keep them out, and the conflicts have too often gone very, very poorly.

For now, though, the current refugee crisis is finding support. Hopefully it become more than a token PR effort, because these people need help.

Because of the aforementioned divisiveness of the subject matter, the comment section will be closed for this article.