Before kickoff in Valencia CF's game against Celta Vigo, the Valencian Association of Relatives of Patients with Alzheimer's (AFAV) was recognised for its important work, as part of the ADN Mestalla Solidari campaign through which Valencia CF and the VCF Foundation show the work of local charities and associations.

President of Valencia CF, Layhoon Chan, club ambassadors Ricardo Arias and Miguel Tendillo hosted Jose Luís Márquez, member of the AFAV Board of Directors, and Sonia Sánchez, an AFAV social worker . In addition, several AFAV users were invited to watch the match at the Mestalla.

September 21 is World Alzheimer's Day, hence the tribute to AFAV on the 17th.

The Valencian Association of Relatives of Patients with Alzheimer's (www.afav.org) is a non-profit organisation that was created in 1991 to collect information about Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, and face the situation in the family environment.

The entity is made up of those affected, relatives, professionals, volunteers and collaborators who fight to improve the quality of life of people with Alzheimer's and dementia and their families. It offers and promotes resources, services and activities that try to cover the needs that arise in the different stages of the disease.

Sonia Sánchez says that "football helps us evoke memories that are part of our hearts, since it is not just a sport, it is feelings."

"That's why football helps us to recover feelings that we have experienced. Hearing the club anthem reminds us of those lyrics heard so many times in Mestalla. Watching old games allows us to remember lineups and all the names of the players that people with Alzheimer's watched when they were young, as well as watching football with their family.”

The AFAV currently has some 3,000 members and offers services to more than 10,000 people in the city of Valencia and the surrounding metropolitan area.