Unified football game brings joy and respect

UEFA and its partner Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia joined forces to celebrate the joy of football with a match in Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday.

Unified game
As part of the ninth Special Olympics Football Week, which continues until 3 May, a unified football match involving Special Olympics and UEFA staff players was held at Colovray Stadium opposite UEFA's headquarters.

Football as a role model
"Football's immense popularity and widespread accessibility mean the sport can contribute significantly to health and social cohesion in Europe. Nothing reaches out to people as football does, which is why the game has a responsibility to be a role model," said William Gaillard, adviser to the UEFA President.

Respect
"Respect underpins all UEFA activities. Respect is a key principle of football – respect for the game, respect for diversity and respect for the environment. The SOEE unified match represented a particularly good opportunity to promote social responsibility and respect for diversity. UEFA team members engaged playing football together with individuals having learning disorders in a spirit of joy, fair play and mutual respect. The bad weather conditions did not hinder humour and laughs. This platform underlined the message: football is open to all abilities."

Programme of events
Special Olympics, founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, is the world's largest year-round programme of sports training and competitions for individuals with intellectual disabilities. UEFA has been giving significant backing to Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia for several years. Around 2.25 million athletes in more than 160 countries train and take part in 30 Olympic-style summer and winter sports at local, national and international events. Through its sports programmes, Special Olympics strives to provide long-term benefits to individuals' health, self-esteem and social integration.

Football Week
An estimated 50,000 players with intellectual disabilities are participating in football events in 45 countries in the Special Olympics Football Week throughout Europe/Eurasia. The focus is on bringing young people with and without intellectual disabilities together to build awareness and tolerance on and off the playing field, mainly through unified football.

On the same team
Activities will include football tournaments on local, regional and national levels, clinics, seminars, press conferences and promotional events. Football associations and professional clubs are expected to support the community-based initiatives. In addition to unified football, there will be an emphasis on volunteer coach recruitment and training.

Unified competitions
"At Special Olympics Switzerland we organise training activities and competitions in 16 different sports," said Pierre Delgrande from Special Olympics Switzerland. "Events like this one are very important for us, as they allow us to promote the idea of unified competitions merging 'normal' people with mentally disabled individuals.

Mixed sides
"What we very much appreciate when we meet with UEFA employees for this football match is the possibility to play with mixed teams. This is very encouraging and enriching for our people. The sporting result in such a context is obviously not a priority. What is more important is to stage a match with mixed teams allowing everybody to take part in the event without having the pressure of obtaining a result or winning.

Different categories
"In each sport we create different categories allowing each individual to take part in the game at a level adapted to his individual capabilities and potentials," Mr Delgrande added. "Like this, we can ensure that all can participate and also have a chance to win."

Click here to read more about Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia.