‘Successful’ site visit for football World Championships
A ‘successful’ site visit to Karlstad, Sweden, the host city of the 2018 International Federation for Intellectual Impairment Sport (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) World Football Championships, has taken place.
World Intellectual Impairment Sport Football Committee Chairperson John Ball returned from the visit optimistic of a great Championships between 2-18 August.
“My visit to Sweden was very productive and successful and I am certain we will have a well organised World Championships in August 2018,” Ball said following his visit earlier in October.
As part of the trip to Karlstad he also inspected the five stadiums and training facilities which will be used for the 34 games played over 16 days.
“It was the end of the football season in Sweden but the quality of the pitches in terms of the conditions of the grass was excellent, as though it was the start of the season. Changing facilities are excellent and each team will have their own grass training pitch so there will be no sharing,” Ball reported.
He was also confident of the ability of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Parasport Sweden, to deliver a memorable Championships:
“They have many and varied talents and expertise in different fields and should be an asset to the organisation across the many aspects it will cover.”
A total of 12 teams are expected for the 2018 World Championships. Sweden automatically qualify as the host country. European qualifiers held in 2016 saw Poland, France and Russia advance whilst Saudi Arabia return as the world champions. The other teams were determined from the world rankings and include Germany, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, South Korea and South Africa.
About World Intellectual Impairment Sport
World Intellectual Impairment Sport represents more than 300,000 athletes with intellectual impairments around the world. We give elite athletes the chance to compete at an international level and on the Paralympic stage. But we cannot continue our work towards the inclusion of the people with intellectual impairments in society without your support.
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