In a raw and emotional video posted on social media, Real Madrid and Brazil star Vinicius Junior has issued a desperate plea to the global community amid Sudan’s spiraling humanitarian catastrophe. “No mother should have to choose which child to feed,” the 25-year-old forward declared, his voice cracking with urgency as he highlighted the unimaginable choices facing families in the war-torn nation.
Sudan’s crisis, now in its third year of brutal civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, has pushed more than 25 million people—over half the population—into acute hunger. The United Nations warns that 2.6 million children under five are at immediate risk of severe acute malnutrition, a condition that kills within weeks if untreated. In camps near Port Sudan and across the border in Chad, mothers cradle skeletal infants, rationing handfuls of sorghum or diluted milk replacer while older siblings scavenge for scraps.
Vinicius, who has previously supported children’s charities in his native Brazil, shared footage of emaciated toddlers and overflowing displacement camps. “These are not statistics—these are children with dreams, with laughter, with futures,” he said. “I see my little cousins in their faces. I see every kid who just wants to play football and eat a full meal.”
The conflict has shattered food supply chains: 70 % of Sudan’s farmland lies abandoned, markets are looted, and aid convoys are routinely blocked or attacked. In West Darfur, famine was officially declared in August 2025, the first such designation in seven years. Yet global funding for Sudan’s humanitarian response sits at just 43 % of the $2.7 billion required, dwarfed by attention on other crises.
Vinicius called on governments, corporations, and individuals to act immediately. “Open the borders for aid. Pressure the warring parties. Send money, send food, send doctors,” he urged. He pledged to donate a portion of his next match bonus and challenged fellow athletes to match him. “If we can fill stadiums with 80,000 fans, we can fill trucks with 80,000 meals.”
As the world prepares for the festive season, Vinicius’s message is a stark reminder: while some debate luxury transfers and sponsorship deals, mothers in Sudan weigh their children on makeshift scales, praying the numbers don’t drop any lower. The footballer’s appeal ends with a single, haunting question: “If this was your family, how long would you wait?”