The VI Unified Football Championships will be played at the Ciudad Deportiva from 3rd-5th June
The Villarreal CF Training Ground (Ciudad Deportiva) will host the VI Unified Football Special Olympics Championships (Campeonato de Fútbol Unificado Special Olympics) that will take place on 3rd, 4th and 5th June. Unified football mixes athletes with and without disabilities in a sport that is having great success across Europe. The first four editions of this tournament were celebrated in Albacete. The opening ceremony will take place on Friday 3rd June at the Ciudad Deportiva at 8:30pm, while the closing ceremony will be on Sunday 5th June at the same time.
This year the tournament will have European influences, as teams from France, Serbia and Azerbaijan will be coming to Vila-real, in addition to 21 teams from across Spain, 10 of which are from the Valencian Region (Comunitat Valenciana). A total of 24 EDI (Escuela de Discapacitados Intelectuales – Schools for the Intellectually Disabled) teams will participate in the tournament. There won’t be a lack of activities put on throughout the tournament either, with all types of events taking place such as a torch relay.
Villarreal CF will participate with two EDI teams, one made up of players of 25 years and over, which will be their first time participating, as last year only one team represented Villarreal. Together, football and smiles will flood Villa-real. Camila Molina, Vicky Molina and Patricia Fuster, players from the Villarreal Ladies First Team (Villarreal CF Femenino A), will also play alongisde the EDI footballers.
The first matches of the preliminary rounds will be played on Friday 3rd June from 9:30am on the pitches at the Villarreal CF Training Ground, while the final rounds will be disputed on the Saturday and Sunday.
Participating teams: Special Olympics Azerbaijan, Special Olympics France, Special Olympics Serbia, Special Olympics Andalucía (2 teams), Special Olympics Canarias, Special Olympics Castilla y León, Special Olympics Catalunya, Special Olympics Ceuta, Special Olympics Extremadura, Special Olympics Madrid (2 teams), Special Olympics Región de Murcia (2 teams), Fundación Espurna (2 teams), Castellón Down Syndrome Foundation (Fundación Síndrome de Down Castellón), C.D. Alter Valencia, C.D. Unitts, C.D. Deportes Sin Adjetivos, Villarreal CF EDI (2 teams) and FCV Levante UD (2 teams).
