Emi and the Spanish National Team players, together to raise awareness of rare diseases

Emi is a little fighter who suffers from a rare disease: Kabuki syndrome, which affects one in every 32,000 people. This Monday, 23 October, marks the International Day against this disease, and the RFEF is joining the fight to raise awareness of this rare genetic condition that affects Emi's life. A condition that is generally associated with low muscle tone, slow postnatal growth, developmental delay and mild to moderate learning difficulties.

People with Kabuki syndrome are more likely than others to be affected by a range of medical conditions and show distinctive musculoskeletal and facial features.

Children with this illness, as well as their families, are well aware of the barriers they have to overcome every day and three of our international stars: Maite Oroz, Olga Carmona and Aitana Bonmatí had the opportunity to hear their accounts first-hand. Because one of Emi's dreams was to meet the football world champions; and recently, during the national team's trip to Cordoba, she was able to do so.

The players were able to learn about the particularities of the disease, and Emi was able to be with her idols, the internationals who won the Women's World Cup for Spain for the first time this past summer in Australia and New Zealand.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation, through the Department of Equality, Social Responsibility and Sustainability, is strongly committed to putting the world of football and its platform for social change at the service of good causes, such as those that help people like Emi, who suffers from one of these rare diseases, as well as their families through the collaboration with organisations such as the Spanish Association of Relatives (AEFA-Kabuki Syndrome). This Monday, International Kabuki Syndrome Awareness Day and the start of a new training camp for the Spanish National Team, is a good time to remember the struggle of those affected and their families.