Spanish La Liga side Real Sporting Gijon have got involved in the CAFE Week of Action 2017 - Total Football Total Access - by interviewing two of their disabled fans about their matchday experiences.

Working in cooperation with UNIPES (La Unión de Peñas Sportinguistas), the Real Sporting Gijon supporters group, disabled fans were asked to explain why attending live matches was so important to them.

Pablo Blanco López is a wheelchair user who attends home matches at El Molinón and also travels to away matches. Pablo said, "The experience at El Molinón is quite good, both in terms of access and view. There are no barriers blocking my view and the spaces are also sheltered, which doesn't always happen at clubs".

He added, "There are not many spaces for wheelchair users, and they are all already full".

Speaking about his experiences at away matches, Pablo said, "Locations of accessible seating areas at other stadiums can vary, and often tickets for wheelchair user spaces are not sent for away fans".

"Those interested in buying wheelchair user tickets for away matches often have to contact the home team, who usually don't reserve a ticket for you. Sometimes you have to make the trip with the risk of not being able to get into the stadium".

To find out more about Pablo's experiences, please visit http://unipes.com/index.php/27-futbol-para-todos.

Real Sporting Gijon also spoke with Alex Rodrigue Varela, a partially sighted fan who enjoys attending live matches with his father. Alex follows the match using his own portable radio.

Alex said, "Although you can not see, it is a very beautiful sensation because you can feel it with other things like the smell of the environment".

To watch Alex's story, please see the below video or visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRQeAIf8qiw.

CAFE would like to thank Real Sporting Gijon and UNIPES for joining us in celebrating Total Football Total Access, and we look forward to working together again in the future.

Published 09/03/2017