This year, the Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium will host the second edition of the Most Inclusive Match, in the match between Atlético de Madrid and Lille in the third round of the Champions League Phase, to be played on Wednesday, October 23 at 21:00. The aim of this initiative is to give visibility and highlight the importance of making stadiums more accessible to everyone and in every way.
This new edition of the Most Inclusive Match was announced a few weeks ago by the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, during the World Football Summit Europe in Seville, where Saiz defended “the enormous transformative power of sport for our society”.
Last year, the Inclusive Match organized in collaboration with Integrated Dreams was an official LALIGA match between Real Betis Balompié and Real Valladolid. It was attended by 1740 people with disabilities, setting the record number of disabled fans watching a football match live at the stadium. But, most importantly, it included various aspects surrounding the experience, such as audio description services for visually impaired fans, ColorAdd code on the numbers for colorblind spectators, players wearing jerseys with Braille numbers on them or the club’s anthem interpreted in sign language.
At the match on October 23rd, we will have a fan zone with various activities to raise awareness of adapted sports, including a space with the Spanish blind soccer team and another with adapted wheelchairs to learn more about foothand, a new variety of football practiced by players on wheelchairs, which can be tried out by fans on the fan zone.
For all those people with disabilities who want to participate in this initiative and come to the stadium to watch the match, they can contact the club directly through the e-mail inclusion@atleticodemadrid.com to buy their tickets at a discounted price.
From Integrated Dreams, we would like to thank our colleagues at the World Football Summit, AccessibAll, Diario As and, of course, Atlético de Madrid, for wanting to be part of this initiative and working with us to make it a reality.
See you on October 23rd at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano to be part of the change for a more inclusive and accessible society!