- Audio-descriptive commentary involves a detailed narration of events
- Headphones freely available for fans at stadium information points
- Service was proved at FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017
The aim of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ organisers is to ensure the tournament isaccessible for all spectators. Audio-descriptive commentary involves a more detailednarration of events for people who cannot see the match or what is happening in thestadium. Headphones will be freely available for fans at stadium information points.
At the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, a course was held at the beginningof April on audio-descriptive commentary for blind and partially sighted football fans.The experienced commentators who attended the theoretical sessions will provide theservice this summer at all Russia 2018 stadiums.
The Russia 2018 Local Organising Committee (LOC) provided this service at the FIFAConfederations Cup in 2017. “Four commentators worked all the tournament’s fourvenues in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan and Sochi,” said Head of Spectator andCompetition Services Division at the LOC Dmitri Grigoriev.
“Over the 16 matches, 234 spectators made use of the service. It’s important to notethat all the fans who listened to the audio-descriptive commentary sat with all otherspectators in the stadium. In other words, blind and partially-sighted footballspectators are not isolated and have the same experience as everyone else. Duringthe FIFA World Cup, audio-descriptive commentary will be available in Russian at all 12FIFA World Cup stadiums, and we are planning to offer 200 sets of equipment at everyarena. At the Luzhniki Stadium and Saint Petersburg Stadium, the commentary will bein English as well as Russian.”
Attendees of the two-day course were shown the ropes by trainer Pavel Obiukh, whois himself partially sighted. They learned about the particularities of the profession,got to grips with the technology and studied the history and appropriate content ofaudio-descriptive commentary. The second day of the course was dedicated to theprinciples of this kind of football commentary and practical work. Obiukh explainedhow audio-descriptive commentary is a recent phenomenon in football, and theculture around it is still developing.
“Audio-descriptive commentary is based on the idea that the visual perception ofsomeone who can’t see must be as close as possible to what a sighted person isviewing,” he revealed. “Over these two days, we learned how to objectivelycommunicate the substance of football. Nowadays, radio commentary is more similarto television: the commentators fill pauses in the game with information that anyonecan find on the internet, but a spectator who cannot see the game is interested inevery single detail. The commentator’s aim here is to objectively state the facts and letthe supporters draw the conclusions. Our course is very useful. Last year at the FIFAConfederations Cup, I listened the commentary and I was completely satisfied with hiswork.”
“Feedback is important for any journalist,” said Alexey Zolin, a journalist trained to bean audio descriptive commentator at one of the FIFA Confederations Cup stadiums in2017, “and working at the Confederations Cup I was able to receive it. There werequite a lot of partially sighted fans at games and afterwards they were very gratefuland gave me positive reviews about my work. I was proud that I managed to conveythe image and atmosphere of a game to people who for a number of reasons can’tsee this by themselves.”
“Audio-descriptive commentary is one of the important initiatives being offered tomake the FIFA World Cup matches accessible to all. Over the past years, FIFA and theLOC have been working on various measures to ensure that infrastructure, ticketingand services are in place to cater to the needs of disabled people and contribute to aninclusive event.” said Federico Addiechi, FIFA Head of Sustainability & Diversity.
Audio-descriptive commentary is just one of the services that FIFA and the LOC areoffering fans at World Cup stadiums. Accessible stadiums are a key feature ofensuring that the FIFA World Cup is inclusive for all. They allow disabled fans and fanswith limited mobility to enjoy a barrier-free environment. This includes:
- Infrastructure solutions (e.g. parking areas, resting areas, special entrances,routes, seating, toilets)
- Services (e.g. ticketing, wheelchair lending services, live audio-descriptivecommentary)
- Disability awareness training of stadium volunteers by FIFA World Cup SponsorMcDonalds to provide adequate information and assistance to all spectators