By Emily Goddard

Britain will host the 2015 Cerebral Palsy Football World Championship at St George's Park ©Getty ImagesMarch 21 - Britain has been revealed as the host nation of the 2015 Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA) Football World Championship.

The seven-a-side tournament will see 15 countries from across the globe join England at St George's Park as they compete for seven spots at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Jeff Davis, the English Football Association's national manager for disability football, is delighted to welcome the flagship tournament, which is due to take place on June 13 until 28 next year, to Britain and claimed it will help boost disability sport nationwide.

"It's fantastic for both disability football and sport in this country that we've won the bid to bring the Cerebral Palsy World Cup to St George's Park and we're looking forward to organising a great event at a first class facility," he said.

"The FA hosted the Blind Football World Cup in Hereford back in 2010 which was a great success both on and off the pitch, so we'll be looking to replicate that by putting the cerebral palsy game in the spotlight next year."

The 2015 CPISRA Football World Championship, taking place at St George's Park, will be the main qualifying event for Rio 2016 ©Getty ImagesThe 2015 CPISRA Football World Championship, taking place at St George's Park, will be the main qualifying event for Rio 2016 ©Getty Images


Cerebral palsy football attracted large crowds at the London 2012 Paralympics, when it was played at the Riverbank Arena on the Olympic Park.

Russia, Ukraine and Iran took the gold, silver and bronze medals on offer respectively, while hosts Great Britain placed seventh overall after defeating the United States.

The last edition of the CPISRA Football World Championship in 2011 produced a fairly similar result, with Russia claiming victory ahead of Iran, Ukraine and Brazil in second, third and fourth place respectively.

Davis now hopes the England team can pull off good performance at the 2015 event to make it to Rio 2016.

"The Paralympics was a brilliant experience for everyone connected with the cerebral palsy football squad and the general public created a fantastic atmosphere at the Riverbank Arena so we'd love to be in the mix for the tournament at Rio 2016," he  said.

England are now preparing to play Holland in a friendly at St George's Park today and then Scotland next month before the European Championship in Portugal this July.

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