Anger as club axes some free carers' tickets

Coventry City Football Club has been accused of discrimination over the rule changes

Disabled season ticket holders at Coventry City Football Club have been told that some will no longer be able to get a free ticket for their personal assistant.

The club has also announced disabled supporters aged under 14 would no longer get free tickets for a carer, because of the requirement that an adult must accompany all under-14s at the arena anyway.

It has now emerged that the club was advised against bringing in changes by a charity that helps disabled people to access sporting events.

But the club said its new ticketing regime would bring it in line with other clubs, and added individual circumstances could be considered on a case-by-case basis.

However, the move has not gone down well with some supporters.

Mum-of-three Rebecca Carless, who has two children with care needs, said it had been nice to take the family all together.

Because of this one could not be left unsupervised while, for example, the other was being taken to the toilet.

“It’s really difficult in my situation, I’ve got to take someone with me if I want to take them all up,” she said.

Another fan, who did not want to be named, told the BBC they thought the new policy was unfair and discriminatory.

They said they had asked the club to consider their son’s situation.

“His mother is a single mother of another younger sibling and cannot afford to take our son to the football,” they said.

“Finance aside, she can't even consider attending as the younger sibling is too young and would detract from the attention that our son requires to keep him safe.”

Level Playing Field - a charity that promotes positive experiences for disabled sports fans – said they did not endorse the changes.

“Level Playing Field was contacted by Coventry City shortly in advance of their recent changes to ticketing for disabled fans," a spokesperson said.

“In response, the charity clarified the intended changes were not a Level Playing Field recommendation, but this advice did not impact the implementation.”

'Fair and robust'

A club spokesperson said the changes would be brought in for next season.

“Coventry City’s new guidelines require supporters to be on the enhanced rate of PIP (personal independence payment) or higher level rate DLA (disability living allowance) to receive a free personal assistant ticket," they said.

“Under-14s will no longer be provided a free personal assistant ticket, due to the requirement for all under-14s in the arena to be accompanied by an adult.”

They accepted that the requirements might not cover all circumstances.

“Under-14s may still require a personal assistant due to their needs - the ticket office will consider all examples such as these on a case-by-case basis,” they added.

Fans were advised to contact the ticket office with queries about the policy.

“The changes that are being made ensure that disabled supporters who require assistance, will still be able to get a personal assistant ticket, while ensuring we have a system that is both fair and robust,” the spokesperson added.