Two hours ago, FIFA posted an public announcement called “FIFA doing its part to make World Cup accessible for all” in which they are sharing with the public on how FIFA is currently fighting any kind of discrimination and doing their best to make football accessible to all.

FIFA has teamed up with Local Organising Committee to provide “pioneering audio match commentary service in four stadiums as the FIFA World Cup”. According to the public announcement,

The commentary will be similar to radio commentary, only with a greater emphasis on describing the atmosphere within the stadium. The specially trained commentators will provide additional information about all the significant visual details inside the venue, depicting the body language and the facial expressions of the main protagonists in words, as well as the team movements, kit descriptions, the colours on view, and any other relevant aspect in order to fully transmit the spectacle and the atmosphere in the stadium.

For more detailed information on audio-descriptive commentary, click here.

Did you know?

At least 1 per cent of tickets for 2014 FIFA World Cup matches have been made available for disabled spectators, who have the option of requesting a complimentary ticket for a companion to assist and accompany them during the match.

For football fans who are deaf,

In addition, video reports from all 64 matches of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ will be broadcast in International Sign on FIFA.com, enabling hard of hearing and deaf people across the globe to receive the same information as non-disabled people.

In the United States, all FIFA games have been made available in closed caption on iPads, iPhones, and your laptop if you have access to ESPN or WatchESPN (espn3.com) as well on all cable networks.

International Sign, also known as IS, is an international auxiliary language used at international meetings such as the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) Congress* and events such as the Deaflympics.

For football fans who are blind,

The fan experience also includes dedicated services for blind and deaf fans outside of the stadium, with specially designed services on FIFA.com.

All articles on the Official Website of FIFA and the FIFA World Cup can be listened to by clicking on the sign on the top left-hand side of the article.

“Football is a universal sport and it must be accessible to everyone. We are therefore delighted to be offering these services for disabled fans”, said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter.

If you are not getting access, please let us know! What is FIFA doing to make sure the games are accessible to all people of all ways of life? Who is not getting access? The Silent Grapevine wants to know! Let us know where you are from and what country! Post in the comments below! 

*The WFD represents approximately 70 million deaf people worldwide, which assists in making sign language available to deaf people, especially regarding matters of education and information.