The RFEF incorporates a person with autism to the staff of all categories of the national team.

"Autism should not condition the social integration of people, and it is everyone's job to ensure that those with autism can join the labor market and give the best of themselves". Under this premise, Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, has announced the signing of an agreement with the Autism Confederation Spain. Its objectives are to encourage the incorporation of people with autism to its staff; to collaborate to make autism more visible; and to make matches more accessible to these people. 

As a result of this agreement, Alex González, a person with autism, will start working as equipment manager for all categories of the Spanish national football team, including the senior team, coached by Luis De La Fuente.

"I am convinced that the incorporation of Alex will bring more to the players than they will bring to him," said Rubiales at the signing of the agreement. "It is a day of emotions, because Alex is the visible face of a whole group that sometimes lacks visibility and today he is claiming it through sport, football and the RFEF," he added.

Miguel Ángel de Casas, president of the Autism Confederation Spain, wanted to highlight the lack of visibility of autism, "among other reasons because it is an invisible disability". For this reason, he considered it "very important for the group to sign an agreement such as the one we are signing with the RFEF". "There is no better tool than football, with all the values it represents of honesty, sincerity, work, effort and comradery ; values shared by the autism spectrum disorder collective", said De Casas, who also pointed out that inclusion in the labor market is the pending task of the collective. "That is why we want to thank the work being done by the Federation, in this case through Alex".

Box 0 at the Spain - China match in Ibiza 

On the other hand, and within the objective of raising awareness of autism, the RFEF has organized a "Box 0" in the match to be played by the Women's National Team on the 11th in Ibiza. The RFEF's "Box 0" initiative is aimed at promoting awareness of different realities and social causes; and, in this case, the children who will accompany the Spanish internationals will be autistic. Both they and other people with autism will attend the match at the Can Misses stadium.

For this purpose, a "relaxation room" has been set up, which will allow these people to have a calmer environment in case they need it. The aim of the Federation is also to enable these spaces progressively in all the matches of the national team, along with other measures to promote the participation of people with autism in sporting events.

The Autism Confederation Spain is a state-wide entity, declared Public Utility by the Ministry of the Interior, which groups 163 entities that provide support and specialized services to people with ASD and their families. Its mission is to support this group by claiming their visibility and the effective exercise of their rights with the purpose of favoring their quality of life and achieving equal opportunities.

This action is also part of the RFEF's social policy, which also includes other recently announced initiatives such as the new integrated narration function in the RFEF app for the hearing impaired. After a pilot test during the Spain-Iceland match played in Riazor in 2022, it officially "debuted" in the last Spain-Norway match played on March 25 at La Rosaleda, in Malaga, and will narrate a minimum of seven matches of the senior men's national team.

Available on the app "RFEF Narración partidos para personas ciegas", Escoita has been made possible thanks to the Hat Trick UEFA Social Responsibility funds and an agreement with ONCE, as a result of which it will be disseminated among all members of the organization, both nationally and internationally.