Football World Cup For Persons With Intellectual Disabilities: Bertelsmann Representative Named Ambassador

Football fans around the world are looking forward to the June 6 kick off of the Football World Cup 2006 in Germany. But hardly anybody knows that almost two and a half months later another football world championship will be taking place, and also in Germany: for three weeks, persons with intellectual disabilities from 16 nations will be competing for the title at the INAS-FID Football World Championships. One of the four ambassadors in Germany is Knut Weltlich, Bertelsmann's Representative for Employees with Severe Disabilities. "I was very pleased when Ralf Kuckuck, the managing director of the Football World Championships for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, called and asked me if I could take on this role," Weltlich said. "After all, it's a matter of the heart for me to be engaged in helping persons with disabilities." His exemplary commitment thus finds yet more approval: most recently, Bertelsmann's Office for Employees with Severe Disabilities attracted international attention when it was praised for its successes in integrating persons with disabilities in a report published by the EU Commission.  At the INAS-FID Football World Championships this summer, persons with intellectual disabilities will compete for the fourth time, and right after an official Football World Cup for the second time. This year, eight teams from Europe, among them Germany, and teams from Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Kuwait, Mali, Japan, and India, will participate. The German team is managed by national coach Willi Breuer, who led his team to fourth place during the last world cup. Weltlich's task will be to promote the Football World Championships for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities throughout Germany. Towards this end, he will appear at diverse public events and promote the world championships following the FIFA World Cup. The RTL Group subsidiary Hop Berlin actively supports his efforts. The TV production company is currently shooting a promotional film about the Football World Championships for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, which will be aired by various stations of the German RTL Group family starting this spring. The spot has a matching slogan: "Performance knows no handicap."