New guidelines designed to help football clubs improve the match experience for disabled football fans across Europe have been published by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).

A number of organisations from the UK have played a key role in helping to draw up the measures, including the Football Licensing Authority (FLA), the National Association of Disabled Supporters (NADS), the Football Foundation and the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF). Both the FSIF and the FLA each contributed £25,000 towards the publication of the Accessible Stadia document in May 2002, which outlined a wide range of disability-friendly guidelines that were adopted as the standard for new stadia.

Steve Shipperley, the Football Foundation's head of technical services, said: "The initial idea for Accessible Stadia was born from a simple but recurring complaint from supporters in wheelchairs that they were never able to see key moments of action such as goals and penalties because as the excitement mounted, everyone in front of them stood up. "The ensuing need for guidance evolved considerably into a comprehensive document covering all disabilities including ambulant disabled and people with sensory disabilities, and not just from an infrastructure perspective but the management of their specialist facilities and the need for all grounds to have an access audit."

NADS chair Joyce Cook added: "This is a hugely significant document and the fact that it has been ratified by the 30 EU members of CEN is a tremendous achievement. The timing is perfect with the recent launch of the new European wide charity, the Centre for Access to Football in Europe."