Disabled fan left in the dark at match

A wheelchair-bound football fan was left cold and alone in a dark access passage at Ta’ Qali National Stadium after security personnel told him it was the only place from where he could watch the match. “They told me I had to go all the way around the stadium and then took me to a place behind the corner flag. I couldn’t even see the game. There was a boundary wall that went above my line of vision. I was left cold and alone, judging what was going on in the game by the distant cheers from the stands above,” Kevin Vella said. The Malta Football Association, MFA, maintains that the stadium’s Millennium Stand offers full accessibility. However, the wind and rain that often beats down on the exposed eastward facing stand poses a serious risk to Mr Vella, whose muscular dystrophy means that exposure to extreme weather conditions can lead to severe health complications. “The Millennium Stand is fully accessible but the weather it’s often exposed to is more than just uncomfortable for me. Not to mention the fact that they rarely open that stand anyway,” Mr Vella said. The National Commission People with Disability (KNPD) filed a judicial protest against the MFA in February accusing it...