(This article is also available in German, French, Dutch and Portuguese.)

On 26 January 2021, CAFE hosted the virtual kick-off meeting of the Erasmus+ project ‘Good Governance Needs Access and Inclusion’ (reference number 622695-EPP-1-2020-1-UK-SPO-SCP). All project partners were in attendance as the project structure and guidelines were presented.

CAFE was joined by representatives of national associations and leagues in Belgium (KBVB and Pro League), France (FFF and LFP) and Germany (DFB and DFL), as well national disabled supporters associations from each country (Inter, FFSFH and BBAG respectively).

Partner University, Universidade Europeia - Portugal (ENSILIS) and UEFA were also represented at the meeting. The call was joined by EU funding specialist Simona Trpovska and Antonia Hagemann, CEO of SD Europe, who shared their experiences of Erasmus+ projects.

Together, this consortium of organisations will work towards good governance in sport, through ensuring disabled fan feedback is integrated into national strategies to improve access and inclusion in football.

Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. The programme is managed by the European Commission, and offers funding for international actions to promote inclusive opportunities. This project will last for three years, running until December 2023.

During this first meeting, each organisation was given the opportunity to introduce themselves and highlight some of their most recent works, before the structure of the three year long project was presented by CAFE Managing Director Joanna Deagle.

The meeting was concluded with a focus group to discuss the template of the first survey of disabled fans, hosted by Universidade Europeia’s Thiago Santos, Miguel Nery and Pedro Fatela.

This survey template will be the first of a number of intellectual outputs that are to be published throughout the duration of the project, ahead of a final report.

Speaking after this first meeting, Joanna Deagle said, “We are delighted to get started on this project and look forward to working with each of the national disabled supporters assocations, national associations and leagues, as we aim to create a platform for increased exchange, understanding and collaboration.”

“Although we were unable to meet in person due to Covid-19 restrictions, it was great to get everyone together virtually and share our enthusiasm with all of the project partners ahead of this exciting collaboration.”

Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. The programme is managed by the European Commission, and offers funding for international actions to promote inclusive opportunities.

For more information about the ‘Good Governance Needs Access and Inclusion’ project, please email [email protected] or call +44 (0)208 065 5108.

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Published 29/01/2021