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CAFE news

February 2015
 
 
 

Welcome to CAFE

The Centre for Access to Football in Europe - www.cafefootball.eu

Disabled fan wins Goal of the Month in Scotland with 97% of vote

Our favourite news story this month has come from Scotland, where 11-year old disabled Celtic fan Jay Beatty has won January's Goal of the Month award, receiving 97% of the vote.

Jay has Down's Syndrome and first came to fame when then-Celtic player Georgios Samaras brought Jay onto the pitch during the side's title celebrations last season. Since then Jay has become a cult hero amongst Celtic fans and has took part in training sessions, attended the end-of-season awards night and even given a pre-match team talk.

Last month Jay was brought onto the pitch at half time of Celtic's away match at Hamilton. Jay scored a penalty and celebrated in front of the Celtic fans, who sung "There's Only One Jay Beatty" and "We Love You Jay We Do".

Martin Beatty, Jay's father, said that Jay had hoped Celtic defender Mikael Lustig would win the award. Lustig would go on to say that Jay was the worthy winner, and he was happy to take second place.

To read more, and to see Jay's goal and reaction to winning the award, please visit the CAFE website. Congratulations Jay!


Rise in derogatory disability language reported at football matches

We are deeply saddened to report a number of instances of derogatory disability language being used at football matches.

There is no place for disability abuse in football or in the wider society.

To read about alleged abuse of Harry Kane by West Ham United fans, please click here.

To read about alleged abuse of Lionel Messi by Real Madrid fans, please click here.


A huge thank you to Translators without Borders

It is absolutely critical to our works that we can engage with disabled fans and other key stakeholders across Europe, in a language that they understand. As a small team, we can’t speak every language so we rely massively on Translators without Borders to help us to communicate.

Since we joined the service in September 2013, we have received over $40,000 worth of voluntary translations. This has allowed us to reinvest so much more into improving the matchday experience of disabled fans, with a number of huge success stories.

As we continue to grow, our support from Translators without Border remains an integral tool that is so helpful in everything we do. We would like to say a huge thank you to Translators without Borders, the Project Managers and of course the volunteer translators who have helped us so much.

Read more


Scottish politician writes to clubs to improve access

There was another big story from Scotland this month, as Mark McDonald MSP sent a letter to 15 of Scotland's top clubs urging them to improve access to their stadiums for disabled fans.

Mr McDonald approached all 12 of the Scottish Premier League clubs, as well as Hearts, Hibernian and Rangers. He highlighted the benefits of making their stadiums more accessible, and particularly encouraged them to install Changing Places toilets.

To read more about this story, please click here.


CAFE working with Arsenal Kiev

This month, CAFE Project Coordinator in Ukraine, Oleksandr Ostapa, met with a representative from FC Arsenal Kiev to discuss future cooperation.

Arsenal Kiev will be playing in the Ukrainian Premier League next season, and the club has accepted CAFE's offer to become consultants as they seek to improve their accessible facilities.

The improvements are based on the UEFA and CAFE Good Practice Guide to Creating an Accessible Stadium and Matchday Experience - 'Access for All'. CAFE will also be supporting the creation of a disabled supporters group at the club in the near future.

To read more, please click here.


Level Playing Field calls on Premier League to dedicate 1% of new TV money (£5.14 billion) to disabled fans

CAFE's sister charity in England and Wales, Level Playing Field, has urged the Premier League to do more for disabled fans.

LPF Chair, Joyce Cook OBE said: “Disabled fans have endured poor conditions at many top clubs for far too long.  So, we are now calling on the Premier League to ring fence just 1% of this new TV funding for 2016/17 to ensure that all professional clubs in the Premier and Football Leagues spend the money on improving access for disabled people at all grounds. All we ask is that clubs should finally at least meet football’s own standards as set out in the Accessible Stadia. Once fixed, then ongoing improvements at stadiums for all fans (including access) should be a natural part of each club’s yearly business planning. It’s not an unreasonable request – it’s time – let’s #justdoit!”

Read more


CAFE attends Assises de Supportérisme meeting in Paris

On the 11 February, Supporters Direct Europe, Senator Ronan Dantec and the French association ‘Conseil National des Supporteurs de Football’, organised a second ‘Assises de Supportérisme’ at the Sénat du France in Paris to discuss the role of supporters and their representation in French football. 

Those present included the Secretary of State for Sport, Thierry Braillard, Head of SD Europe, Antonia Hagemann, representatives of CNSF, political stakeholders, 5 of France’s Disabled Supporters Associations (Bordeaux, Marseille, Saint Etienne, Lyon and Paris Saint Germain) and CAFE.

Read more


Your chance to be a part of UEFA EURO 2016

The UEFA EURO 2016 volunteers programme will launch on 30 May 2015 – and a total of 6,500 helpers will be needed across the ten host cities.

A variety of roles will be available, including in media services, marketing, hospitality and accreditation, when the search for 6,500 UEFA EURO 2016 volunteers launches in May.

To read more about this, please click here.


Reminder to all UK-based contacts

A quick reminder to all of our contacts who are based in the UK, that the Government survey for disabled fans is open until 28th February.

The survey is the largest ever for disabled sports fans and will help to establish the most comprehensive view possible of their treatment at sports grounds around the country.

To take the survey, please click here


Join us on Instagram!

At CAFE we are constantly looking at ways to make it easier for disabled fans to share their experiences with us. We have now joined Instagram, and you can now send your photos and short videos of accessible facilities to us when you are on the move.

Our Instagram profile name is cafefootball.eu - we look forward to receiving your photographs and videos there.

Don't forget to also follow us for updates on Twitter and Facebook!


Download Access for All

'Access for All' - The UEFA and CAFE Good Practice Guide to Creating an Accessible Stadium and Matchday Experience - is now available via the CAFE website in 13 European languages. The aim of the guide is to provide a benchmark of good practice for both new and existing stadiums, offering practical, clear solutions that will help football clubs, national associations and stadium managers to deliver high-quality grounds with facilities and services that are accessible, inclusive and welcoming for all.

Read more


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 Young Boys, Chelsea, Lech Poznan, Aston Villa and Cracovia.

Read more


 
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