For the seventh successive season, the CAFE Week of Action has been celebrated in Poland with current champions Legia Warsaw leading this year's activities.

The CAFE Week of Action was established back in 2013, as part of CAFE's UEFA EURO 2012 legacy project in Poland and Ukraine. Our stakeholders in both countries were keen to continue the successes that had been achieved before and during the Finals, and so we created the CAFE Week of Action as an opportunity to highlight the great work that was taking place.

Activities promoting improved access and inclusion frequently took place in both countries, and the CAFE Week of Action eventually expanded across Europe in 2016.

Poland has enjoyed some memorable successes during previous CAFE Week of Action initiatives, including a record-breaking 1005 disabled fans attending a match in Wroclaw in 2015, and Cracovia FC performing the club's official anthem on the pitch in sign language in 2014.

This season, Legia Warsaw have worked with the club's Foundation and launched its own amputee football team.

Legia President Dariusz Mioduski announced that the club had entered into an agreement with Gloria Varsovia - the reigning amputee football champions in Poland - to become the new Amp Football Section of Legia Warsaw.

Mioduski said, "I am happy that Legia Warsaw has been enriched by the Football Amp section. I really wanted this cooperation because the values that guide this discipline are crucial for Legia. Amp Football players are people who are relentless and aim to achieve their goals. The same applies to Legia".

The coach of the new side, Mateusz Szczepaniak, added, "We believe that cooperation with Legia will be extremely succesful. We want to reach new fans. We know what Legia’s brand means in Poland and Europe. We do not just want to take Legia’s shirts, our target is to continue the development of this discipline in Poland".

The new team was announced as Legia Warsaw published the below video, which can also be viewed externally here. The video is a great demonstration of empowerment and inclusion of disabled people.

The Legia Warsaw Foundation has also reaffirmed its commitment to the CAFE Week of Action and their Legia Gez Barier (Legia without Barriers) programme here.

We would like to thank Legia Warsaw, the club's Foundation and the new amputee football team for promoting another of the many roles disabled people can play within the game. We look forward to continuing our works and cooperation with the club as well as our other stakeholders and partners in Poland!

To find out more about the new amputee football team at Legia Warsaw, please click here.

There are more activities planned to take place in Poland during the CAFE Week of Action, and they will be reported on the CAFE website as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Published 07/03/2019