INZONE: FC Porto and Betano open new sensory room at Dragão Stadium
Making the stadium more accessible for fans facing sensory challenges
FC Porto has taken a new step in making the Dragão stadium more inclusive for everyone, as last Saturday it introduced a new sensory room in partnership with Betano, the club’s main sponsor. The sensory room is called INZONE and it is addressed to neurodivergent people, individuals with difficulties in processing sensory information (System Spectrum Disorder, Autism, Sensory Processing Dysfunction, Intellectual Deficit, Mental Health Illness). INZONE is a space that aims to make the football experience more accessible, as it allows watching games in a controlled environment, which minimises sensory overload experiences.
This is FC Porto’s latest of many initiatives that promote inclusiveness in football. In the same direction, the club has introduced audio-descriptive commentary, the transmission of the club’s anthem in English sign language on the stadium screens and the application of the ColorAdd code.
Built in partnership with Betano and the School of Health of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto (Escola Superior de Saúde do Politécnico do Porto), INZONE consists of three stages. The first stage, which is the sensory room itself, provides neurodiverse fans with privacy and control over all sensory stimuli. The second stage reduces control and gradually prepares them for the third stage, INZONE’s ultimate goal, which is to enable the integration of these people and their families in the stadium stands along with the other fans.
“It is a great honour for us at Kaizen Gaming and Betano, to launch this initiative that creates a more inclusive environment for people with sensory challenges. The new sensory room at the Dragão stadium is a significant step towards social integration and diversity. With the invaluable support of the President of FC Porto and in collaboration with the School of Health of Porto, we have created a safe and calming space. At Kaizen Gaming, we are committed to continuously supporting initiatives that promote social awareness and equality for all. We thank FC Porto for their collaboration and for the opportunity to contribute to the creation of a world that accepts and supports social inclusion”, adds Panos Konstantopoulos, President of Kaizen Foundation. The newly founded Kaizen Foundation is a charitable organisation funded by Kaizen Gaming.
“FC Porto has been carrying out work around sustainability and, more specifically, inclusion, which I am very proud of and which has been described as being a point of reference. This is another step we are taking in partnership with Betano and the School of Health of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto, which allows us to equip the Dragão Stadium with amenities that did not exist before that make us more inclusive and prepared to welcome all Porto fans”, highlights Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, President of FC Porto.
INZONE, recognizing the changing needs of the audiences, will be an integrative, inclusive and evolving space over time. The project, developed in accordance with UEFA guidelines, will be a source of scientific research papers, which will be produced in collaboration with the School of Health of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto, and serve as an excellent example of what football should become — a game for all.
