Skip to main content
BBC NEWS / UK
Graphics VersionBBC Sport Home
News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | UK | Business | Health | Science & Environment | Technology | Entertainment | Also in the news | Have Your Say |
UK Contents:  England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales | UK Politics | Education | Magazine

Saturday, 19 May 2007, 16:32 GMT 17:32 UK

Madeleine film aired at Cup final

Madeleine McCann appeal at Wembley A film asking for help in the search for missing girl Madeleine McCann has been shown at the FA Cup final.

The two-minute video to Simple Minds' song Don't You (Forget About Me) was shown on big screens at Wembley Stadium before kick-off and during half-time.

Madeleine, from Leicestershire, was abducted as she slept in her parents' holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on 3 May.

The Find Madeleine DVD was also shown at the Uefa Cup final last Wednesday.

The footage was seen by 90,000 fans at Wembley, and could have reached 450 million more, as the match between Manchester United and Chelsea was expected to be watched in 160 countries.

Police are investigating several possible sightings of Madeleine, including one in Marrakech, Morocco.

Fighting fund

Madeleine's parents took part in another candlelit vigil to pray for her safe return on Friday evening.

Kate and Gerry McCann were joined in prayer by villagers in Praia da Luz more than two weeks after the four-year-old was abducted.

Police have confirmed their only suspect, Briton Robert Murat, had phone contact with a key witness on the night the little girl disappeared.

Money has poured in to a fighting fund set up for Madeleine on Wednesday.

Bankers said the latest total was £73,505 - which includes £50,000 from Portsmouth Football Club - but does not include money collected by banks and building societies and cheques yet to clear.

Madeleine's Fund is expected to swell as cheques clear
Fundraiser for Madeleine McCann

Madeleine's great-uncle Brian Kennedy, said: "It's the tip of the iceberg. The figure I have heard likely to be contributed is very considerable."

A website set up to find the missing child from Rothley, Leicestershire, has received 65m hits and more than 25,000 messages of support since its launch on Wednesday.

Multinational companies are supporting the efforts to spread Madeleine's image across Europe.

BP, Shell, Esso, Texaco and Total will distribute appeal posters at their petrol stations, and there is a mobile phone text campaign run by Vodafone, O2 and Telefonica.

Other backers of the campaign include supermarket chain Carrefour, McDonalds, Carphone Warehouse, Budget car rental, British Airways and BAA, which is displaying posters at all of its UK airports.

Royal Bank of Scotland is overseeing cash collections and Spain's Banco Santander and France's Credit Agricole and La Poste are distributing posters.

Coach operator National Express said posters of Madeleine would be placed in bus stations in 27 countries served by its Eurolines network.

Inconsistencies

Police say so far nothing has come of various possible sightings of Madeleine since she disappeared.

And Ch Insp Olegario de Sousa said he did not have the evidence to arrest Robert Murat, 33, who denies any involvement.

Officers are looking into alleged inconsistencies in an account given by a key witness.

A Russian man, Sergey Malinka, reportedly told detectives that he and Mr Murat had not spoken for a year.

Hampden Park appeal

But police sources have now confirmed to the BBC that the men had telephone contact on the night Madeleine disappeared.

A Leicestershire police spokeswoman also confirmed that a Portuguese detective inspector had visited the English force's incident room to speak to officers.

The force said a number of reported sightings were being investigated, including one made by a Norwegian tourist in Marrakech on 9 May.

Rewards of £2.5m have been offered to anyone with information leading to the four-year-old's safe return.

Details of how to donate to Madeleine's Fund - at banks, by post or via the internet - can be found at www.findmadeleine.com.



E-mail this to a friend

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Find Madeleine
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites



SEARCH BBC NEWS: 

News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | UK | Business | Health | Science & Environment | Technology | Entertainment | Also in the news | Have Your Say |
UK Contents:  England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales | UK Politics | Education | Magazine

NewsWatch | Notes | Contact us | About BBC News | Profiles | History

^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©