“We have found again and again that people with disabilities have the same opportunities to play totally free football ,” said FIGC General Secretary, Marco Brunelli on Fifa.com. “But all the girls and boys should be able to fulfill your desire to play football in an organised and structured environment.”
This organized and structured environment to offer President Gabriele Gravina these people in the future, under the umbrella of the FIGC. In collaboration with the Italian Paralympic Committee (CIP) was launched as the first Association in the world, a League of Paralympic and experimental football. The term experimental is used in sports science, if the classification is not a category limit.
First steps, the Italians launched three years ago. To promote, together with the Lega Serie A and the Centro Sportivo Italiano – an organization that has the goal of Sport as a means for continuing education, value – creation and social Integration- they founded the “Fourth category”. The project targeted people with cognitive disorders. A group of nine pioneering Teams, nine professional clubs and 120 players.
The dream is a big international championship
“Today, we have Clubs not less than 116, and almost 3000 player,” says Brunelli, “we have just carried out a Cupwettbewerb according to the type of the Coppa Italia.” And, for the first time a game had been live on television. The rapid development and the great interest had prompted the Association to give the disabled football solid structures and as a sub-section in the Association to incorporate.
Positive Feedback is given the FIGC, not only in Italy, but also beyond the country’s borders. For instance, there was recognition by the Portuguese Association. In Portugal, there are serious efforts to launch a similar project in the Italian style. Brunelli finally, on Fifa.com “We are pleased to share our project with other associations and dream, to create, perhaps even a major international championship for people with disabilities. For football it would be a true Revolution.”
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Created: 05.12.2019, 19:42 Uhr