Created: 2026.05.29. 13:44
The world’s football audience will witness a historic moment at Saturday’s UEFA Champions League Final in Budapest: during the Paris SG–Arsenal match, hearing-impaired young people will serve as ball assistants. The work of the students of the Ezüstcipő Focisuli Foundation is supported by the further developed “Look At Me” signalling system, created in cooperation with researchers from Széchenyi István University.
One of the world’s largest sporting events, the UEFA Champions League Final, will be particularly special as hearing-impaired children from the Ezüstcipő Focisuli Foundation will serve as ball assistants at the Puskás Aréna. A technological innovation was also required for them to receive this opportunity: their work is supported by a special communication system that enables fast, accurate and safe task management throughout throughout the match. The idea for the application, named “Look At Me”, was developed by László Fekete Jr., founder of the Ezüstcipő Focisuli Foundation, while OX-IT Kft. and Széchenyi István University collaborated on the further development of the solution.
The sign language used by the assistants can be applied particularly effectively even amid the roar of a crowd of sixty thousand spectators. If the operator needs to communicate with either one or all of the ball assistants, a signal is sent through a mobile application, while vibrating wristbands worn by the recipients draw their attention to the message. The solution enables fast and efficient communication and significantly facilitates the work of the hearing-impaired ball assistants.
The wristbands worn by the hearing-impaired ball assistants support communication with them (Photo: Ezüstcipő Focisuli Foundation)
László Fekete Jr. founded the football school for hearing-impaired children nine years ago following the advice of his father, László Fekete, who represented the national team 21 times. “Already during the first training sessions, it became clear that if I was outside the athletes’ field of vision, I could not communicate with them. That is why I began thinking about how I could provide them with guidance and instructions even during play. This led to the idea of the signalling system, the first version of which, together with the devices and the application developed with OX-IT Kft., was further improved in cooperation with Széchenyi István University. In order for UEFA to approve our radio-based communication solution, standardised interference emission measurements and detailed English-language documentation were also required, which were likewise prepared by the institution in Győr,” explained the president of the football school. He added that the system has now also been included in the official “Ball Management” handbook of the UEFA Champions League Final, which specifically addresses the solution designed for hearing-impaired ball assistants.
“We were pleased to contribute our expertise and innovative capabilities to the success of the idea. We are proud to have supported this initiative, and we are especially delighted that, thanks to the development, the children will be able to participate in one of the world’s most significant sporting events and demonstrate to the entire world that modern technology can also make a major contribution to equal opportunities. According to our plans, we will continue the joint work so that the system can provide similar opportunities for even more young people,” said Dr István Drotár, Head of the Higher Education and Industry Cooperation Centre at Széchenyi István University.
The aim of the football school is to demonstrate that hearing-impaired people are capable of performing any task both on and off the pitch. They have already demonstrated this, for example, by serving as ball assistants during the Hungary–Greece friendly match in March. They will also assist at the Champions Festival held at Heroes’ Square ahead of the UEFA Champions League Final, wearing jerseys bearing the logo of Széchenyi István University.
The system consists of a mobile application and vibrating wristbands (Photo: Ezüstcipő Focisuli Foundation)
