EFDN hosts first edition of Special Champions League tournament on 6th of November

EFDN organises the first edition of the Special Champions League Festival on 6 November 2021 at Sports Center De Scharen in Breda, the Netherlands as a legacy tournament of the 16th EFDN Conference. The EFDN Special Champions League is a new project of EFDN that will provide a safe, inclusive, and active environment where young people between 10 and 18 years old with an intellectual disability can come together and play football at a level, they are all comfortable with.

To promote this new project and methodology, EFDN welcomes during this tournament 12 teams from Dutch and international members within the European Football for Development Network. Every team will play at least three and maximum of four games throughout the day.

EFDN will organise two to four European Football Festivals per year hosted by various network members throughout the season. Although the name perhaps suggests something different, the tournaments are non-competitive and a way to promote greater social inclusion and acceptance of disability football within European Football clubs and the wider European population. Through football, we want to get more young people with intellectual disabilities physically socially active in their communities and increase integration and inclusion within society. The EFDN Special Champions League will provide opportunities for participants to improve their physical health, increase their confidence, meet new people, learn about others, and establish social bonds.