E-Paper
Sign In
From hospital corridors to the football pitch: Raphaël's journey inspires Epic Football Academy to play for a greater purpose
A Dubai youth academy turns one child's experience of leukaemia into a long-term commitment to childhood cancer awareness, charity football, blood donation and family support
- PUBLISHED: Tue 29 Sept 2026, 10:30 AM
When Raphaël was diagnosed with leukaemia, football stopped being simply a game. From a hospital room, it became a connection to normal childhood, a source of hope and something tangible to look forward to.
Throughout treatment and recovery, Raphaël never stopped loving football. With his brother Loulou, he would kick a ball in the hospital corridors, read and dream about football, and hold on to the game as a reminder of the life he wanted to return to.
Recommended For You
Football helped keep a smile on his face. When Raphaël was eventually able to return to the pitch, football represented far more than sport. It marked a return to the life he had been missing.
That experience became part of the inspiration behind EPIC Football Academy and its wider purpose.
Football with purpose
EPIC has made childhood cancer awareness a visible part of its identity, using the reach of grassroots football to support children and families while encouraging the wider community to take practical action.
The academy's commitment includes raising awareness of childhood cancer, organising charity football activities, promoting blood donation initiatives, creating a supportive community around families experiencing treatment or recovery, and providing football opportunities for children in treatment or recovery so they can remain connected to the confidence, routine and sense of belonging that sport can provide.
The gold ribbon featured on EPIC jerseys is a visible reminder of that commitment. Widely associated with childhood cancer awareness, it has a deeply personal meaning for the academy and the children who wear it.
For Raphaël's family, the cause is inseparable from lived experience. Football gave him something to look forward to during treatment, and seeing him back among teammates gave that hope a physical form.
A family story that became a community promise
Raphaël's recovery was never the work of one person. His family, his brother Loulou and the nursing team caring for him formed the circle around him, while football offered another kind of support: teammates, coaches, movement and play.
That combination of family support and community is now reflected in the way EPIC approaches its childhood cancer initiative.
Miro, Head Coach of EPIC Football Academy, leads the academy's football programme, while the wider EPIC community carries the message beyond coaching sessions and match days.
The intention is not to turn a child's illness into a campaign. It is to use a real family experience to make awareness, support and action part of everyday academy life.
For young players, that can mean understanding why a teammate may be absent, why a gold ribbon appears on a jersey, why blood donation matters, or why simply welcoming a child back onto a pitch can be significant.
A journey told in pictures
The story is captured in four moments: Raphaël during treatment; Raphaël reading and dreaming about football during chemotherapy and blood transfusions; Raphaël back on the pitch, smiling and surrounded by teammates; and Raphaël with his brother Loulou in EPIC colours.
The distance between those images is the reason EPIC believes football can carry a purpose beyond results and trophies.