Enlarge image
Fans at the 2012 Germany-Israel international match in Leipzig
Photo: Dennis Grombkowski / Bongarts / Getty Images
It could be difficult for football fans in wheelchairs to get a spectator seat at the upcoming European Championships. According to the “Model Meeting Place Ordinance”, stadiums with more than 5,000 seats should actually have at least 0.5 percent of the capacity available for wheelchair users. But the quota is not reached in any of the ten German European Championship stadiums. This was the result of a written question from André Hahn, the sports policy spokesman for the Left in the Bundestag.
All stadiums where games are played have created additional capacity for wheelchairs - in the Leipzig Arena, for example, the number was increased by 31 to 119. But according to Saxon regulations there should be twice as many there. The announcement by some stadium operators that they want to reduce the newly created capacities after the tournament is causing additional trouble.
Jürgen Dusel, the federal government's representative for the interests of people with disabilities, instead calls for "the number of places for wheelchairs to be significantly increased - not just during the European Championships."
fhi