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Atletico is trying to raise awareness of fans with disabilities in the Champions League game

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer

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

Thousands of fans with disabilities are expected to attend Atletico’s game against Lille at the Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday, when the club could break the record of 1,740 disabled fans set by Real Betis in a Spanish league match against Valladolid last year.

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

“They suggested to us to play a game of this type and we automatically said ‘yes,'” Óscar Mayo, Atlético’s chief operating officer, told The Associated Press. “For us it’s not about the bottom line, it’s more about the awareness and the importance of thinking about these groups, raising awareness across society and creating awareness that you can enjoy these types of events no matter what.”

The game comes days after a report by Level Playing Field, an association representing disabled sports fans, cited difficulties for disabled fans at away stadiums across Europe, including complaints about wheelchair users having to sit next to home team fans.

UEFA said it is “committed to strengthening inclusivity and accessibility in stadiums across Europe”, in line with the policies and objectives set out in its 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 created in collaboration with AccessibAll were introduced in September. The guidelines state that wheelchair spaces should not only be available in home fan areas.

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

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

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

Mayo said Atlético had already been contacted by other European clubs, without naming them, for further information about the initiative.

“We chose to do it in a UEFA match because the visibility is greater,” Mayo said. “And I think it would be great if this helped invite the rest of the teams to get involved in similar initiatives.”

Clubs often fail to take action because they believe that not enough fans with disabilities are interested in attending their games. Therefore, initiatives like Atletico’s should show them that there is a need for better services.

Germany is probably the country better prepared for fans with disabilities, Jarosz said, also because it has “the best stadiums,” which were recently used at the European Championships. He said the fact that clubs are traditionally fan-owned also helps, and society in the country is generally more used to caring for people with disabilities.

He said France had 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 describe the situation at a global level, but governing bodies such as FIFA and UEFA have certainly recognized that this is important because it concerns a part of the population.”

Atletico attracted fans with disabilities to Wednesday’s game by selling them tickets at discounted prices and working with its fan groups to publicize the campaign.

Mayo said Atletico had prepared an “intensive operation” to host the game. There will be dedicated parking spaces for fans with disabilities and staff 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 considered sufficient.

Before the game there will be activities at the Metropolitano, with exhibitions on wheelchair football and stands with information about different types of disabilities. Actors from the Spanish film “Campeones,” a hugely successful comedy about the importance of inclusion, were there, as were members of the Spanish blind football team.

“These types of actions help make people aware of the importance of thinking about them,” Mayo said.

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

The Associated Press contributed to this article.