European Football Week, the flagship football initiative in Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia (SOEE), celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. SOEE Sports Advisor for Football, Andre Peeters, is among the numerous coaches, staff members and athletes who have helped to shape the impressive trajectory of EFW. Here, André chats to us about the origins of this exciting Europe-wide event and how he has watched it evolve through the years.
Andre's journey with Special Olympics began at the Special Olympics Belgium (SOB) National Games in 1983, where he became captivated by the movement's philosophy, marking the beginning of his career within SOB and later SOEE.
“I graduated in physical education and started working in a centre for people with disabilities. I read in a sports magazine that there would be competitions for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) in Brussels organized by an organization named Special Olympics Belgium,” says Andrè.
“I travelled for three days to Brussels and experienced for the first time the wonderful atmosphere of a real competition based on ability levels. I was convinced about the vision and philosophy of Special Olympics: non-élite, all level of abilities, sport as a way of inclusion, friendship, joy, personal growth.”
From that moment, Andre's passion transformed into his career. He started as a coach in Special Olympics Belgium, and his dedication led him to various roles nationally and internationally. He now serves as SOEE Sports Advisor for Football and has been Chair of the Special Olympics Global Football Committee since 2019. Throughout his distinguished career, he has remained involved in the development of SOEE's flagship initiative, European Football Week.
The inception of EFW came during the first SOEE football meeting in Monaco, aiming to promote and expand Special Olympics football. Initially, it focused on increasing the number of football players and coaches, but in recent years it has emphasized improving the quality of the game and targeted specific categories, such as women's football, younger and older players, coaching, and Unified football.
Despite some challenges, efforts have led to significant growth in numbers and progress in inclusivity and cooperation with partners and national football federations. When EFW started approximately 15,000 athletes were engaged in Special Olympics football activities across Europe. Just one year later, the numbers more than doubled with 46,000 athletes involved and that upward trajectory continued in the following years. Although the Covid-19 pandemic dented numbers significantly, they are slowly rebounding and today, an estimated 111,000 footballers are playing the beautiful game with Special Olympics in the region.
Andre comments, “Our first goal was to increase the number of football players in the SOEE region. We were convinced that, in European countries, there was a massive pool of potential athletes, who were 'inactive' at home or stayed in a special school or centre and wanted to play football. At that moment many people with ID did not play football, at least not on a regular basis, and if they did, they only played within specialized centres for people with disabilities, which often lacked decent football facilities and qualified football coaches.
“[After the first few years,] We could see a significant growth in the numbers. Since 2010 we realized that it was time not only to focus on quantity but also on quality. The themes of European Football Week moved to focus on specific targets: we saw that few girls played football and focused to get more girls on the field, we noticed that many Special Olympics football players started playing football too late and missed the “golden age” (8-12) to learn and automatize specific technical football skills so we focused on the younger audience, we noticed that most coaches were not specifically educated and qualified as football coaches, now the number of qualified coaches is increasing with the help of the National Football Associations; etc.”
Football's popularity in Europe, both in participant numbers and among spectators, makes it the ideal tool for driving inclusivity in sports. Over the past 25 years, more than 7,000 events have been organized in 45 countries under the European Football Week banner, involving an estimated 700,000 athletes and coaches.
Miroslaw Krogulec, Special Olympics Europe Eurasia Vice President for Sports, adds, “Football's power to drive inclusion in our region stems from its popularity, accessibility, and community integration. It is a sport for everyone, from grassroots to high-level play, and through European Football Week, we strive to ensure every player not only gets on the field, but can also leave it feeling content and happy.
“As we look to the future, we renew our commitment to increase player numbers, sustain balanced competitions, and foster cooperation with mainstream clubs, UEFA and the national football federations, and new partners. Offering high-quality opportunity for our athletes is our ultimate goal. The joy of seeing athletes playing sports in a place where they can feel like they belong is priceless.”
This year, such passion and commitment can be witnessed on fields across Europe, 17 to 24 May. With an estimated 350 events taking place in 45 countries, we are looking forward to seeing the results of 25 years of hard work behind the scenes.
From Portugal to Armenia, and from Iceland to Cyprus, a burning passion for football beats in the hearts of 35,000+ athletes across Europe and Eurasia in 2025.
“What I like most about football is that everyone is passionate about it, there is no distinction,” comments Antonio Barbato, Special Olympics Italy footballer. “The emotion you feel with every goal, the sense of belonging that comes from cheering for your team. In those moments all the problems seem to disappear and only the game of football remains.”
“Football makes me strong and happy,” adds Edurne Gonzalez, footballer from Special Olympics Spain. “And to the girls I say: come on! Football is for us, too!”
