03 December 2023
Today, 3 December, is International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Juventus' commitment on this topic has long been strong and constant, stemming from what we do best: football.
Six years ago, in October 2017, we launched a unique project: creating a team to participate in FIGC's Paralympic and Experimental Football Division championship. The team originally took the name 'Juventus for Special', but we feel we must move beyond this definition, and we have told this story in Vinovo, through a unique event and an array of profound facets.
Disability in our view is not something 'special' but is one of the many possible human conditions and should not preclude the achievement of one's dreams and goals. The best way was to tell this story on the pitch, through an event with a meaningful name:
JUVENTUS IS JUVENTUS
The meaning of the event in Vinovo, but also of our belief, is directly linked to this phrase: Juventus has many actors, many faces and within it many different human conditions, but we are one family.
Once again, we wanted to tell the story with football and we did so by setting up a friendly match between two teams, called 'Juventus White' and 'Juventus Black', in which the Paralympic and Experimental Division team took part, together with players from the women's under-19, men's under-19 and Next Gen teams.
The result was an enthralling, evenly balanced match, with seven goals, great play and entertaining moments. At the end of the game, Marco Tealdo, coordinator of the paralympic team, told and demonstrated, by means of a 'disability experience' on the field together with some volunteers, what it means to play with a disability, whether sensory, physical or cognitive. It was a moment of learning that our team has been taking into schools for years, where Juventus players from the senior and youth teams assume the role of teacher.
The message behind Juventus IS Juventus, which we want to convey not only today but every day of the year, is that disability is not a limitation, but just one of the many characteristics of human beings.
