Cerebral Palsy World Cup Finals to be staged at SGP

Thursday 20 Mar 2014
CP stars Jack Rutter and Martin Sinclair meet Jack Butland.

The FA has announced that the 2015 Cerebral Palsy seven-a-side World Cup will be held at St. George’s Park.

Organised by the Cerebral Palsy International Sport and Recreation Association, the World Cup will see 15 nations from across the globe join England at SGP between 13-28 June next year with seven Paralympic places for Rio 2016 up for grabs.

"It’s fantastic for both disability football and sport in this country that we’ve won the bid to bring the Cerebral Palsy World Cup to St. George’s Park and we’re looking forward to organising a great event at a first class facility," said Jeff Davis, The FA’s National Manager for Disability Football.

Great Britain

Team GB played Brazil in the 2012 Paralympics

 

"The FA hosted the Blind Football World Cup in Hereford back in 2010 which was a great success both on and off the pitch, so we’ll be looking to replicate that by putting the Cerebral Palsy game in the spotlight next year."

Cerebral Palsy football featured at London 2012 in front of packed crowds at the Riverbank Arena with The FA running the squad under the Great Britain banner.

GB enjoyed two wins over the USA to finish seventh overall while Russia beat Ukraine to win the Gold medal.

"The Paralympics was a brilliant experience for everyone connected with the Cerebral Palsy football squad and the general public created a fantastic atmosphere at the Riverbank Arena so we’d love to be in the mix for the tournament at Rio 2016," added Davis.  

England play Holland in a friendly at SGP on Friday and then Scotland next month before the European Championship in Portugal this summer.

By Matt Phillips