SOCIETY

KSDEO "EDRA" has implemented for many years sports activities for people with mental health problems at National and European level (Athletic Event for Mental Health & Mental Retardation, 1st European Sport & Physical Exercise Event for Mental Health), and consequently developed the idea of ​​organizing a Pan-Hellenic Five-a-side Football Championship for people with mental illness and mental retardation.

For the implementation of the 1st Pan-Hellenic Football Mental Health Championship, EDRA cooperated with the Hellenic Football Federation – HFF, whose Technical Committee approved the participation, undertaking to cover the needs related to the organisation of the Championship and the logistical infrastructure (stadiums, referees, medical coverage, accommodation and travelling in the Final phase, promotional material, medals, etc.).

Almost all Mental Health services providers operating nationwide, under the Psychiatric Reform Programme "PSYCHARGOS", under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, were invited by EDRA.

Twenty teams of Mental Health providers from all over Greece participated in the Championship, consisting of mental health service recipients and mental health professionals.

The Championship included:

1. Regional qualifying games on the weekends:

• 7-8/9/2019, in the city of Edessa and Ioannina
• 14-15/9/2019, in the city of Lamia
• 21-22/9/2019, in the city of Athens

2. Final phase, on 28-29th September, 2019, in Athens, at Agios Kosmas National Youth Sports Centre, where 4 regional champions and 4 Attica qualifiers played in order to decide the Champion of Greece.

In order to have better publicity of the initiative, a formal joint press conference was held from EDRA and HFF, where the competition program and the final phase participants were presented.

The event had important innovative elements:

• It was the first National Football Championship for mental health service recipients, officially recognized by the Hellenic Football Federation
• The matches were held with no referees present. The participants made their own decisions, with fairness and respect, in a non-conflict match
• It was the first initiative held under the institutional cooperation of HFF, the central football authority that is responsible for the organisation and development of football in Greece, that incorporated the event into the “Same field” social program, which is a crucial component of the general UEFA-approved six-year development plan of the Federation
• EDRA, as President of the European Network of Active Living for Mental Health ENALMH set the initiative in its broader activities, as part of an active lifestyle for all, "sport for the soul".