Blind football

Football 5-a-side,^[1] more commonly known as Blind football or Blind soccer, is a variation of association football designed for players who are blind or visually impaired. It is currently a Paralympic sport, and the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) also organizes a World Blind Football Championships.^[2]

Overview

According to IBSA, "football for the blind and partially sighted started out as a playground game for school children in special schools for the visually impaired."

Football 5-a-side, also known as blind football and blind futsal, is an adaptation of football for athletes with visual impairments including blindness. The sport, governed by the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA), is played with modified FIFA rules. The field of play is smaller, and is surrounded by boards. Teams are reduced to five players, including the goalkeeper, per team. Teams may also use one guide, who is positioned off the field of play, to assist in directing players. The ball is equipped with a noise-making device to allow players to locate it by sound. Matches consist of two 20-minute halves, with a ten-minute break at half-time.

Football 5-a-side players are assigned to one of three sport classes based on their level of visual impairment:

B1 – Totally or almost totally blind; from no light perception up to light perception but inability to recognise the shape of a hand.
B2 – Partially sighted; able to recognise the shape of a hand up to a visual acuity of 2/60 or a visual field of less than 5 degrees.
B3 – Partially sighted; visual acuity from 2/60 to 6/60 or visual field from 5 to 20 degrees

Teams are permitted to use sighted athletes as goalkeepers and guides; sighted goalkeepers cannot have been registered with FIFA for at least five years.

Two types of competition exist. For Class B1 games, only athletes with sport class B1 are permitted as players, with the exception of the goalkeepers and the guides, who may be class B2, B3, or sighted. For Class B2/B3 games, teams can field players in sport classes B2 and B3; at least two B2 players must be on the field at all times.

5-a-side football in Europe was developed in Spain. The first Spanish national championships took place in Spain in 1986. In South America, there are records of a Brazilian Tournament organized in 1980. European and American Championships took place in 1997, followed by the first World Championships in 1998. The sport was added to the Summer Paralympic Games in 2004.

As of 2022, there were 46 countries in the men's ranking.^[3]

Rules

Generally speaking, the rules of blind football are very similar to the rules of futsal. There are, however, some important exceptions:

All players, except for the goalkeeper, are blindfolded.
The ball has been modified to make a jingling or rattling sound.
Players are required to say "voy", "go", or something similar when going for the ball; this alerts the other players about their position.
A guide, positioned outside the field of play, provides instructions to the players.

Notable players

Blind football competitions

References

^ "Football 5-A-Side | Canadian Paralympic Committee". paralympic.ca. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
^ "Football B2-B3 Europeans confirmed IBSA International Blind Sports Federation". ibsasport.org. International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA). 17 July 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ https://blindfootball.sport/results-and-rankings/world-rankings/

External links

[1] "Football 5-A-Side | Canadian Paralympic Committee". paralympic.ca. Retrieved 25 March 2023.

[2] "Football B2-B3 Europeans confirmed IBSA International Blind Sports Federation". ibsasport.org. International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA). 17 July 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2021.

[3] ttps://blindfootball.sport/results-and-rankings/world-rankings/

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