The eighth annual CAFE Week of Action was severely hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, with many planned activities and celebrations postponed as restrictions were placed on live football.

We are hugely grateful to everyone who planned to join us in celebrating Total Football #TotalAccess during this time, and we look forward to promoting your activities at another date.

Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing stories from some of the activities that were able to take place before the restrictions came into force. This includes the disabled fans and DSAs who successfully applied for CAFE’s small grants programme.

If you have any questions about this season’s CAFE Week of Action, or you are planning to rearrange your celebrations for another date, please email [email protected] or call +44 (0)208 065 5108.

 

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We were delighted to be joined by Red Bull Salzburg in celebrating this season’s CAFE Week of Action at their match against Sturm Graz.

Ahead of the match, the two teams were accompanied by a group of disabled fans who had been selected as the player escorts for the fixture. 22 wheelchair users each joined one of the outfield players as they made their way onto the pitch.

The group included four disabled Sturm Graz fans, who had travelled over 200km from Styria to support their team.

As the players entered the field, each player escort joined them in lining up on in the centre of the pitch.

The activity created memories that will last a lifetime for each of the disabled fans involved, and also provided great exposure to demonstrate the club’s commitment to inclusion.

There was more great news to come for many of the fans involved, with the home side securing a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Masaya Okugawa and substitute Patson Daka.

Red Bull Salzburg are keen to continue to improve access and inclusion for all – both on a matchday and across all other levels of the club.

If you have any questions about access and inclusion at Red Bull Salzburg, you can email the club’s Disability Access Officer at [email protected].

We are delighted to celebrate Total Football #TotalAccess with our friends in Salzburg, and we look forward to working with the club on their journey.

Pictures © FC Red Bull Salzburg/gepa
Video © FC Red Bull Salzburg


Published 9/4/2020