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Atletico is trying to raise awareness of fans with disabilities during Champions League matches

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer

MADRID (AP) — Atletico Madrid wants to attract a record number of spectators with disabilities to a Champions League match to raise awareness about inclusion and the need to promote better access to sport for disabled fans at venues across Europe.

Thousands of disabled supporters are expected at Atletico’s match against Lille at the Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday, when the club could break Real Betis’ record of 1,740 disabled fans in last year’s Spanish league match against Valladolid.

Atletico and its partners in the initiative, including the AccessibAll, Integrated Dreams and World Football Summit groups, hope this achievement will help spark a movement to improve access for disabled fans at sporting venues.

“They proposed to us to organize this kind of match and automatically we said ‘Yes,'” Atletico chief executive Óscar Mayo told The Associated Press. “We are not worried about the record, it is more about awareness, the importance of thinking about these groups, to sensitize the whole society and to create awareness that no matter what happens, you should not miss these types of events can enjoy.”

The match comes a few days after a report from Level Playing Field, an organization representing disabled sports fans, noted problems for disabled fans in away stadiums across Europe, including complaints about wheelchair users having to sit next to home team supporters.

UEFA said it is “committed to strengthening the inclusivity and accessibility of stadiums in Europe”, in line with the policies and objectives set out in the Football Sustainability Strategy 2030 document. The governing body said each of its licensed clubs must have a dedicated ‘disability access officer’, noting that accessibility guidelines were launched in partnership with AccessibAll in September. The guidelines state that wheelchair user spaces should not be located only in home support sectors.

One of the first initiatives similar to Atletico’s came in 2015, when more than 1,000 disabled fans attended a local match in Poland, according to UEFA. Little else has been done since then and Betis’ initiative comes almost a decade later.

“We discovered that it’s time to launch more than a record, it’s time to launch a movement,” Olivier Jarosz, CEO of AccessibAll, told the AP. “When we think of disability, we tend to think of people in wheelchairs. And actually there are 7% wheelchair users, so it’s a real minority. Most disabilities are not visible. It can be visual, it can be mental, it can be cognitive. And there are many different challenges.”

According to European Union data, 27% of the EU population over the age of 16 had some form of disability in 2023.

Mayo said Atletico had already been contacted by other European clubs, without specifying them, to get more information about the initiative.

“We decided to do it in a UEFA match because the visibility is higher,” Mayo said. “And I think if this helps invite the rest of the teams to participate in similar initiatives, it would be great.”

Often clubs do not take action because they believe there are not enough fans with disabilities interested in attending their matches. Initiatives like Atletico’s should help them demonstrate that there is a demand for better services.

Germany is probably the country better prepared for fans with disabilities, Jarosz said, partly because it has “the best stadiums” recently used during the European Championship. He said the fact that clubs are traditionally fan-owned also helps, and that society in general is more accustomed to catering to people with disabilities.

He said France has also improved recently, thanks to Paris hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Sure, things are changing, but they’re not moving enough,” Jarosz said. “It is very difficult to tell you the situation on a global scale, but certainly the governing bodies such as FIFA and UEFA realized that this is important because it is a part of the population.”

Atletico attracted fans with disabilities to Wednesday’s match by selling tickets to them at reduced prices and working with its fan groups to raise awareness of the campaign.

Mayo said Atletico had prepared an “intensive operation” to host the match. Specific parking spaces will be reserved for supporters with disabilities, and employees dedicated solely to assisting them.

Atletico’s 70,000-capacity stadium is one of the newest and most modern in Europe and is considered fully equipped to welcome fans with disabilities. Access to and from the stadium in the Spanish capital is also assessed as sufficient.

Before the match, activities will take place in Metropolitano, with exhibitions on wheelchair football and stands with information on different types of disabilities. Actors from the Spanish film ‘Campeones’, a highly successful comedy about the importance of inclusivity, were expected to attend, as well as members of the Spanish blind football team.

“These types of actions help raise awareness of the importance of thinking about them,” Mayo said.

The Spanish government was also involved in the initiative through its Ministry of Integration.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.