Austria

Special Olympics players join celebrities for an exhibition match. Photo Courtesy of Special Olympics Austria

Football professionals come out to support Special Olympics players
Special Olympics Austria had a full week of activities. One event included a Unified tournament with more than 200 players participating. Another activity was aworkshop that was supported by Bundesliga coach Lars Söndergard, from GAK; Andreas Kopf and Peter Sallmayer from the Austrian Football Federations's Academy of Football, and former Bundesliga player Eric Reptop. The Special Olympics team competing in the 2007 Special Olympics World Games used the week as preparation for their upcoming competitions in Shanghai. An exhibition match between the Shanghai team and celebrities was held and proved to be a big hit with the media.

Germany

Professional and Special Olympics players get together. Photo courtesy of Special Olympics Germany

Top clubs continue to support Special Olympics players
More than 600 Special Olympics players competed in events with the involvement of 16 first and second divisions of the Bundesliga. This included training sessions with players from Hamburger SV, with Netherlands international Rafael van der Vaart, and the Belgian international Vincent Kompany. Special Olympics female players continued to be supported by 1. FFC Frankfurt who held a training session.

Ireland

Rosaleen Friel (centre), captain of the Northwest Special Olympics Club receiving the inaugural Special Olympics Ireland Women's Cup from Frances Kavanagh,(left), sports director, Special Olympics Ireland; and Noelle Murray, Republic of Ireland Under-19 soccer International (right). (Photo courtesy of Special Olympics Ireland)

First Women's Cup competition organized
Approximately 420 Special Olympics players participated in events and competitions in all five regions of Ireland. Some of the events included demonstration games with Special Olympics players held during half time at Eircom National League matches and a 5 a-side football blitz with 16 teams participating. The final event was held in the AUL complex in Dublin and involved two men's 11-a-side matches, the first of which was a semi-final of the Special Olympics Ireland Shield competition. On the same day, there was a women's 5 a-side blitz - the very first Women's Cup competition organized by Special Olympics Ireland.

Lithuania

Special Olympics players, coaches and supporters in Lithuania. (Photo Courtesy of Special Olympics Lithuania)

'Enjoy Football' theme taken to heart in Lithuania
“Enjoy Football” was the theme of events organized for Special Olympics players in Lithuania. Close to 390 players, aged 12 to 40 years, participated in competitions, games and skills testing in seven regions while coaches participated in a seminar. Some activities included young people from mainstream schools. Female footballers played alongside their male teammates. In one competition, local women's team Taktil? as well as female players from a local sports school joined Special Olympics players on the pitch. So did the Nev?žis seniors team in friendly games. Guests at events included heads of local institutions for people with disabilities, former professional players and sports medicine experts. Three magazines - Mug?, Rinkos aikste and K?daini? garsas - ran articles about the events and reports were shown on Rigveda cable television and K?daini? krašto television.

Poland

Professional players showed their solidarity by wearing Special Olympics T-shirts. (Photographer: Adam Nurkiewicz)

Professionals wear Special Olympics T-shirts
Twenty tournaments, involving 2,900 athletes, took place throughout Poland from 29 April through 6 May. This meant that there was at least one competition in every region of the country. There were 306 teams that played - 35 female and 271 male - and an additional 20 Unified teams. The tournaments were all held on professional football pitches. In addition, 16 professional teams walked onto the pitch prior to their matches wearing Special Olympics T-shirts; some were escorted by Special Olympics footballers. Two of the matches were broadcast on Canal+.

Turkey

Special Olympics players with one of their idols, Umit Davala, a midfielder who has played for top teams in Europe. (Photo courtesy of Special Olympics Turkey)

Almost 3,000 Special Olympics players participate in events
     Special Olympics Turkey organized events, many Unified, for almost 3,000 players in 27 cities in the country. In one of the six tournaments that was held in Istanbul approximately 120 athletes and 80 partners had a particularly great day because they were able to play on the pitches of the Turkish Football Federation. Federation officials and SuperLeague players came to watch the action, meet the Special Olympics players and participate in the awards ceremonies. Another major event was held in Antalya where Special Olympics Turkey organized its first “Unified Beach Football Tournament” with 150 athletes and partners. The tournament was sponsored by the municipality and local businesses. Since it was tourist season, many of tourists joined locals to watch the action.

Ukraine

2,500 Special Olympics players participate in events
     Special Olympics Ukraine exceeded its own expectations during Football Week, organizing the largest sports event ever organized by the Program. From 29 April-6 May, 2,500 male and female players, including 170 Unified® teams competed. The players came from 22 regions. More than 450 university students served as volunteers at events.

Overjoyed Special Olympics players at awards ceremonies.(All photos courtesy of Special Olympics Ukraine

Football Week started off with small local games that took place mostly at “internats” (boarding schools) and then proceeded to regional tournaments. Finals, involving 120 Special Olympics players from all over Ukraine were held in Kiev at the new pitch of the Ukrainian Football House from 4-6 May.

During the Finals, a Unified exhibition match was held on 6 May. Male and female Special Olympics players were partnered with Ukrainian music celebrities and representatives of the Ukrainian international business community. Partners included: Prof. Serhiy Komisarenko, President, Special Olympics Ukraine; Vitaliy Kirichenko, leader of the Numer 482 rock band; DJ Istar, and Stuart McKenzie, Managing Director, Pulse, as well as Special Olympics Ukraine board members and others.

Special Olympics teams and guests at the Finals in Kiev.		Special Olympics players receive balls from the Ukrainian Football Federation.

Three Unified football seminars for coaches, referees, partners and volunteers were held during the Finals.

The week's activities were featured on local and national media. In particular, the Opening Ceremonies of the Finals and interviews with Komisarenko and Boris Voskresenskiy, President, Disabled Football Department of the Ukrainian Football Federation, were featured in the news on the Kiev TV channel and a number of Ukrainian sports and business magazines.