Welcome to CAFE - the Centre for Access to Football in Europe
Celebrating the International Day of Disabled People with the launch of the new UEFA EURO 2016 Respect Access for All project
We invite you to join us in celebrating the International Day of Disabled People 2014.
Each year, organisations and individuals come together on 3rd December to promote the role that disabled people play in everyday life, and to raise awareness of good access and disability etiquette. The theme for 2014 is technology and how technological developments have helped to make society more inclusive for disabled people.
To celebrate International Day of Disabled People 2014, we are delighted to announce the launch of the new UEFA EURO 2016 Respect Access for All project which is being delivered by CAFE in France with the aim to leave a sustainable legacy for disabled French football fans.
CAFE has appointed Malik Badsi and Dave Moussy as local Project Coordinators, and they will work with the local organising committee, the French Football Federation (FFF) and non-governmental organisations to encourage good accessibility and inclusion practices and to liaise with disabled fans before and during the tournament. CAFE is also delighted to announce the appointment of Joanna Deagle, who joins us as our Research and Development Manager.
As part of the new project, CAFE will also be providing audio-descriptive commentary at UEFA EURO 2016 for partially sighted and blind fans. This inclusive service has proved to be hugely popular at previous tournaments and makes it possible for fans to attend live matches who previously couldn’t.
CAFE appoints Jarosław Bieniuk as Ambassador in Poland
Polish international Jarosław Bieniuk has been appointed as CAFE's new Ambassador in Poland.
Jarosław played for the Polish national team between 2003 and 2009, and most recently played for Lechia Gdańsk. He now works for Lechia as their Board Representative of Sport. Prior to becoming a CAFE Ambassador, Jarosław had been engaged in social activities through organising charity matches for entrepreneurs and professional players. Money raised during these charity matches was then donated to selected social organisations.
Jarosław is a well-known figure in the football world and he will support CAFE in our activities in Poland. Jarosław will also play a part in supporting next year's CAFE Week of Action campaign - Total Football, Total Access - as part of our UEFA EURO 2012 legacy project.
International Day of Disabled People 2014
The International Day of Disabled People 2014 gives a focus on how technology has an important role in disaster risk reduction and emergency responses, creating enabling working environments and disability-inclusive sustainable development goals.
Football is a huge part of many people’s lives, and it is critical that clubs and stadiums embrace technological advances to improve access and inclusivity. This includes accessible services such as audio-descriptive commentary, which is being introduced at stadiums across Europe. With technology improvements and the broadcasting products now readily available there is no reason why partially sighted and blind fans cannot tune into this service from anywhere within the stadium bowl. This ensures that they can attend live football matches with a choice of seating alongside fellow fans, friends and family. CAFE has a number of fans stories about how such accessible services can make a huge difference to the lives of disabled people, and a selection of these can be found at http://www.cafefootball.eu/en/disabled-supporters-stories.
Another example of how technology can help disabled football fans is via mobile apps. As smartphones and tablets become more common, app developers have found new methods of sharing inclusive information with disabled consumers. This can include bespoke apps with mapping and information about accessible venues close to stadiums and mobile-optimised websites including our own www.cafefootball.eu.
There are a number of innovative and imaginative ways that technology can be used to benefit disabled people. Recent examples have used new 3D printer technology to assist partially sighted and blind people to visualise stadiums such as the stadium model for blind players in Japan.
Disabled Dynamo Kiev fans create DSA
CAFE is delighted to announce the creation of a disabled supporters association at Dynamo Kiev. A large number of disabled fans gathered at the NSC Olympiysky Stadium in Kiev to celebrate the newly-created group, representing all disabled Dynamo Kiev fans. CAFE Head of Development, Elena Karpukhina, and Project Coordinator in Ukraine, Oleksandr Ostapa, were also in attendance.
Elena addressed the gathered fans, and said, "I am very pleased that we helped to create the DSA together with Dynamo Kiev and NSC Olympiysky Stadium. I hope that this will give disabled fans the opportunity to attend more football matches, meet new friends, communicate with the players and also to speak with one voice for a more inclusive future". Elena also announced that Oleksandr Shovkovskiy had been appointed as a CAFE Ambassador in Ukraine.
CAFE would like to congratulate everyone involved and wishes the Dynamo Kiev DSA the best of luck for the future.
To mark International Day of Disabled People, the group are taking part in a programme providing accessible tours of the NSC Olympiysky stadium for disabled fans. These tours, previously only available for wheelchair users, are now fully accessible for partially sighted and blind fans and deaf and hard of hearing fans.
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Footballer donates wages to disabled fans association
CAFE learnt of a heart-warming story last week with Birmingham City’s new signing Guy Moussi pledging to donate all of his wages to four charities during his eight week contract. The club’s disabled supporters association is set to receive 25%.
The French midfielder will be splitting his wages between the Birmingham City Disabled Supporters Club, Stop Ebola, a church in Paris and the TEV Soma Charity.
CAFE would like to congratulate Guy on this wonderful gesture.
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News in brief
This month we focus on accessible air travel and some of the issues faced by disabled air passengers.
Have Your Say – disabled fans comments
The Have Your Say section of the CAFE website is your opportunity to share your matchday experiences with us. Tell us what you found good, not good, and what you felt could have been improved. Fans comments are taken seriously, and can help to make a real positive change for other disabled fans visiting the stadium in the future.
Leaving your fans comments is easy to do. Simply go to www.cafefootball.eu and using the dropdown menus select the stadium that you have recently visited. Each stadium has its own fans comments section where you can share your experiences in any language.
Most recent fans comments include VfL Wolfsburg, Karpaty Lviv and Tottenham Hotspur.
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