Football 5-a-side, 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 The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

, and the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) also organizes a World Blind Football Championships.

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 impairment Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

s including blindness. The sport, governed by the

International Blind Sports Federation The International Blind Sports Federation () is a non-profit organisation founded 1981 in Paris, France. It was formerly known as the International Blind Sports Association. IBSA's mission is to promote the full integration of blind and parti ...

(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 In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, 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 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of visual perception, vision, but technically rates an animal's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neural factors. Optical factors of the eye ...

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 A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

; 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 The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

in 2004. As of 2022, there were 46 countries in the men's ranking.https://blindfootball.sport/results-and-rankings/world-rankings/

Rules

Generally speaking, the rules of blind football are very similar to the rules of

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

. There are, however, some important exceptions: *All players, except for the goalkeeper, are

blindfold A blindfold (from Middle English ') is a garment, usually of cloth, tied to one's head to cover the eyes to disable the wearer's sight. While a properly fitted blindfold prevents sight even if the eyes are open, a poorly tied or trick blindfo ...

ed. *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

* Jefinho * Ricardinho

Blind football competitions

* World Blind Football Championships * Blind football at the IBSA World Games * IBSA Blind Football European Championships * IBSA Blind Football Asian Championships * IBSA Blind Football American Championships * IBSA Blind Football African Championships *

Football 5-a-side at the Summer Paralympics Football 5-a-side, also known as blind football, has been contested at the Summer Paralympics since 2004. The competition has consisted of a single event, men's team; women have never competed. Football 5-a-side is an adaptation of football for ...

* Football 5-a-side at the Asian Para Games * Football 5-a-side at the ASEAN Para Games * Football 5-a-side at the Parapan American Games

References

External links