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Statement on Liverpools UEFA Champions League allocation of 4 wheelchair user spaces from Real Madrid

Level Playing Field is extremely disappointed that Liverpool football club has only been provided four wheelchair-user spaces for their upcoming Champions League knock-out tie against Real Madrid.

 

Not only is this a minimal amount for a stadium that can currently host 70,000 fans, these four away wheelchair-user spaces are also situated in the home end with Real Madrid supporters.

 

Under Article 38.01 of UEFA Champions League regulations, they state that “Home clubs must make at least 5% of the total approved UEFA capacity of their stadium available exclusively to visiting supporters, in a segregated, safe area.”

 

The Bernabeu is undergoing renovation and has a reduced capacity of 70,000. Liverpool should be provided with 3,500 tickets. Not the 1,800 total allocation of away ticketing.

 

But of that 1,800 Real Madrid is providing 0.2% of its away capacity to Liverpool wheelchair-user supporters.

 

Not only are Real Madrid and UEFA not enforcing the rules when it comes to away allocation, they are also not enforcing UEFA’s ‘Access For All’ guidance.

 

According to the UEFA ‘Access For All’ guide Real Madrid should:

 

  • Provide a minimum of 270 Wheelchair User Spaces and 270 Easy Access and Amenity seats. The reality is that they don’t. According to Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE) Real Madrid only provide 45 wheelchair-user spaces. This means they need six times as many spaces as they currently provide just to meet the minimum standard.

 

  • A stadium the size of the Bernabeu, even at the limited capacity of 70,000 should provide a minimum of 14 Wheelchair user spaces for away fans. For this match, they are only providing 4.

 

  • Allow disabled away fans to sit with their own fans. The reality is that they don’t.

 

*Click this link for the UEFA ‘Access For All Guide’.Statement on Liverpool’s UEFA Champions Leauge allocation of 4 wheelchair user spaces from Real Madrid

The Champions League is the biggest club competition in the world and should be accessible to everyone.

 

We want UEFA to drive standards and ensure there is accountability not just delivering broad statements like they have to Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association who were informed that the reason for the reduced allocation at the Bernabeu was based on ‘security reasons’.

 

We agree that the health and safety of fans must be paramount to every game. However, there needs to be transparency, not just broad-brush statements such as ‘safety reasons’

 

Back at the Champions League Final between the same 2 clubs, UEFA told Level Playing Field…

 

“For an event of this size, UEFA would usually aim to identify a higher number of positions, but due to operational constraints (e.g. security, poor view, etc.) and the short preparation time, it was not possible to implement optimal solutions for more wheelchair positions.”

 

 

UEFA once again hid behind ‘safety reasons’, but once the tournament started, we had images of TV crews in wheelchair-user spaces.The 4 wheelchair-user spaces being offered to Liverpool supporters once again show that UEFA #EqualGame campaign promotes its vision that everyone should be able to enjoy football as long as you are not disabled.

 

Level Playing Field supports disabled sports fans in England and Wales; we advise that disabled supporters not based in England and Wales to please contact CAFE