Porto have called on the clubs competing in this season’s UEFA Champions League group stage to donate €1 for every ticket sold for their first home game in the competition proper to boost the migrant relief effort in Europe.

A host of European football’s biggest sides – including Bayern Munich and Celtic – have this week announced initiatives aimed at helping the tens of thousands of desperate migrants making their way across the continent from the Middle East and Africa.

And in an open letter addressed to UEFA president Michel Platini, Porto counterpart Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa urged the “football family” to unite and do more.

The letter read: “It’s impossible to close our eyes to the drama of the migrants and refuges that are trying to enter in the European soil.

“FC Porto, thru [sic] UEFA, would like to invite the 31 clubs currently in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League to put their efforts together and donate €1 per ticket sold for the first two matchdays.

“This will allow each club to have one home match to gather the donation. FC Porto will assume this initiative on the 29th September, against Chelsea FC.

“UEFA has a prolific tradition in social responsibility. The situation with the migrants requires a strong movement of the society and, of course, football cannot be apart from it.

“The forthcoming campaign of the UEFA Champions League can be even more successful if we put out efforts together. Let’s play for the migrants!”