Today Level Playing Field wrote to UEFA to ask ‘why only 14% of available wheelchair user spaces have been offered to disabled supporters who might require this accessible space.’
We have recently been made aware, by several enquiries, that Liverpool Football Club has been allocated only 38 wheelchair user spaces for the Champions League final at the Stade de France in Paris.
We believe Real Madrid has been allocated the same amount, 38 wheelchair spaces. That’s 76 in total.
However, there are 550 wheelchair user spaces available at the Stade de France? That’s only 14% of the available space allocation to both sets of fans. What has happened to the other 474 spaces?
We understand that some spaces have not been sold due to poor infrastructure. We have asked UEFA to clarify this, and does that mean that UEFA believes that the 474 spaces not being sold are not fit for purpose?
The Stade de France in Paris also happens to be the home of the Paris 2024 Olympics/Paralympics. Does this mean that both events will have the same issues with poor infrastructure?
We have also asked UEFA for assurances that these wheelchair user spaces are not being used for camera/media positioning or given to corporate partners that do not have a disability?
The Champions League winners and their fans will feel jubilation, and the losers will feel the sting of their defeat, this is what football is all about, and that pure emotion of sporting drama should be available to as many supporters as possible.
We call on UEFA to review their wheelchair allocation and provide more accessible wheelchair user space to the fans who make the Champions League final special. With the Champions League final seen as one of the most lucrative sporting occasions globally, there should be a commitment to investing in infrastructure, not lessening the opportunity. Currently what’s being provided in total to Liverpool and Real Madrid is just over 0.1% of the overall capacity of Stade de France. This is entirely unacceptable. Any future Finals and Tournaments need to be looking to provide, not withhold.
Level Playing Field supports disabled sports fans in England and Wales; we advise that disabled supporters not based in England and Wales attend a sporting event outside of England and Wales to please contact CAFE.