INCLUSIVITY
WATCHING
THROUGH WORDS
Founded in 2009 by UEFA, who
donated one million Swiss Francs to
the cause, the Centre for Access to
Football in Europe (CAFE) works
with leagues and clubs across
Europe to promote inclusion of
disabled people within the sport.
“We were the official charity of
Euro 2012 and had a project to
improve inclusion at the finals. One
of the aspects of the projects was to
introduce audio descriptive
commentary (ADC), which didn’t
exist at the time in Poland or in
Ukraine,” says Michael Rice,
communications manager, CAFE. “It
was available at every match at the
tournaments and we have since
expanded it out to other European
Championships and also worked
with Brazil at the World Cup to have
ADC at four of the venues. It is now
also available for all of the UEFA
men’s and woman’s club cup finals.”
For those fans who need it, the
difference between ADC and regular
commentary is huge. “With ADC, it
is about painting a fuller picture for
the listener, so picking out colors,
explaining the atmosphere in the
stadium and anything specific that is
happening, such as a Mexican
Wave,” says Rice. “We’ve had a lot of
powerful testimonials from fans who
have said it’s revolutionized their
match day experience. Blind fans
who had never thought about going
to a game before this and other fans
who have been to a game, used ADC
and gone back to a game without it
and said they couldn’t go anymore, it
was that important to them.”
The network of ADC-ready stadia
is growing, partly thanks to the
CAFE team leaving the systems for
clubs to use after a tournament.
“We’ve also done training with AC
Milan, the San Marino FA, and in
Georgia, Russia, Greece, and
Portugal where we did the Nations
League,” says Rice.
Top: The Philadelphia Eagles was one of the first
NFL teams to install a sensory room, which is part
of its Autism Foundation that supports those with
the condition through charity fund-raising events
Pic: Eagles Autism Foundation
www.stadia-magazine.com March 2020 33
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