REAL BETIS IS READY FOR THE MOST INCLUSIVE MATCH IN THE WORLD
The Club, together with Integrated Dreams and World Football Summit – the most important global event of the football industry -, will launch during the match between Real Betis vs. Real Valladolid a series of actions to raise awareness around the fact that all people can enjoy a soccer match in equal conditions.
In addition, the event aims to bring together a large gathering of people with functional diversity in the stands. Real Betis Balompié will host next Saturday February 18, at the Benito Villamarín Stadium, the most inclusive match in the world, an initiative that aims to bring together fans from all over the world with functional diversity to raise awareness around the fact that anybody can equally enjoy a football match, regardless of their special needs. For the implementation of this event, the club has joined forces with Integrated Dreams, an NGO based in Lisbon, whose mission is to represent people with disabilities in the world of sport through inclusion, development and education. Furthermore, both organizations Real Betis and Integrated Dreams have relied on the impulse and support from World Football Summit, the scenario in which the “World’s Most Inclusive Match” was announced.
During this match, the Real Betis kit will have the numbers printed in Braille and prior to it starting, there will be a series of actions that will take place:
- The bibs used during the warm-up will be screen-printed with the colorAdd code, which represents with symbols the different color shades in order to be identified by colorblind fans.
- There will be different exhibitions of adapted sports for the fans to participate in before the match.
- Players will be walked into the field by children with functional diversity, an action that Real Betis carries out every year in the Disability match.
- The anthem will be interpreted in sign language from different points of the field and shown across the giant screens of the stadium.
- Adding to the series of actions that will be developed, players from the soccer team Flamencos Amputados Sur CF, an Andalusian team made up of amputees, will take center stage in the halftime match that will be played on the pitch with the support of Real.
This is a match that wants to break a world record, welcoming to the stands of the Stadium the largest gathering of fans with functional diversity, a fact that can become a global milestone in terms of the inclusion of people with disabilities in sports. Real Betis will take advantage of this event to release a match guide in pictograms and other “easy to read” formats, which will be available on the Club’s website, designed as a cognitive accessibility tool. To improve the experience and accessibility at the Real Betis stadium on match days, Real Betis will take the opportunity to conduct questionnaires to fans with functional diversity who attend the match. Real Betis disability and accessibility department Real Betis is working to improve the experience of its fans on match days. Thus, the entity has a specific group of volunteers who are responsible for carrying out the “We accompany you to your seat” service, which consists of helping people with disabilities or mobility difficulties to access their seats. In addition, Real Betis also has accessible ticketing available for wheelchair users as well as sensory packages for people with autism, becoming the first team in LaLiga to implement this initiative.
Integrated Dreams Association is an NGO founded in 2017, based in Lisbon, Portugal, with a mission to increase the representation of people with disabilities in the world of sport through inclusion, development and education. As such, the organization started with a training program specifically designed to promote employability, entrepreneurship and networking of people with disabilities in the world of sport, the Football For All Leadership Programme. This project has already had 3 successful editions, where they supported people with disabilities from 20 different countries and has the collaboration of reference partners such as FIFA or the Centre for Access to Football in Europe. Following their inclusive mission, they have also partnered with the World Football Summit to launch the Football Without Limits award and celebrate the most outstanding projects related to football and disability around the world.
World Football Summit: where the football industry meets, is the meeting place for soccer industry leaders to debate and build the future of the sport. Our platform has evolved from an annual meeting focused on the European market, to a growing series of events covering the challenges and opportunities of the different regions and sectors of this thriving industry. WFS is driven by a global community of influential professionals who share a unique passion for the business of sport and a mission to spark debate, share knowledge and promote innovation that drives the progress of the sport and the football industry.
Sevilla, February 8th, 2023.
