Cerebral Palsy Football, also called ''7-a-side football'' or formerly ''Paralympic Football'', is an adaptation of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

for

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

s with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

and other

neurological disorders Neurological disorders represent a complex array of medical conditions that fundamentally disrupt the functioning of the nervous system. These Disorder of consciousness, disorders affect the brain, spinal cord, and nerve networks, presenting unique ...

, including

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and

traumatic brain injury A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity ranging from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI/concussion) to severe traumati ...

. From 1978 to 2014, cerebral palsy football was governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA). In January 2015, governance of the sport was taken over by the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football, under the umbrella of ''Para Football''. The sport is played with modified FIFA rules. Among the modifications are a reduced field of play, a reduction in the number of players, elimination of the offside rule, and permission for one-handed

throw-in A throw-in is a method of restarting play in a game of association football when the whole of ball passes over the touchline. It is governed by Law 15 of Laws of the Game (association football), the Laws of the Game. In Scotland it is known a ...

s. Matches consist of two thirty-minute halves, with a fifteen-minute half-time break. Teams must field at least one class C5 or C6 player at all times. No more than one players of class C8 are permitted to play at the same time. International competition in 7-a-side football began at the 1978 CP-ISRA International Games in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. 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 ...

at the

1984 Summer Paralympics The 1984 International Games for the Disabled, commonly known as the 1984 Summer Paralympics, were the seventh Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes w ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, and was played at every Summer Games until 2016.

Governance

From 1978 to 2014, cerebral palsy football was governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA). In January 2015, governance of the sport was taken over by the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football. Different organizations govern the sport on a national level. In Australia, the sport is governed by Football Federation Australia, with the sport also having state governing bodies in the country. For New South Wales, this is Cerebral Palsy Sporting and Recreation Association NSW. In Queensland, it is Football Queensland. The sport is overseen by Football Federation South Australia in South Australia. In Victoria, it is run by Disability Sport and Recreation. In Western Australia, the sport is governed by Football West. In the Australian Capital Territory, the sport is governed by Capital Football. In Tasmania, the sport is run by Disability Sport and Recreation.

Rule modifications

While CP football generally follows many of the rules of association football, the sport includes a few modifications. These rules include a lack of an offside rule, and players being allowed to throw in the ball using only one hand.

Throw-in A throw-in is a method of restarting play in a game of association football when the whole of ball passes over the touchline. It is governed by Law 15 of Laws of the Game (association football), the Laws of the Game. In Scotland it is known a ...

s can be done using an underhand technique. The game is also shorter, featuring two 30-minute halves with a 15-minute halftime break. It also includes only 7 players on the field for each team during play. The goal and the field are also smaller than the non-disability association football game. The field is 75 meters by 55 meters. In tournament competition, playoff and finals games that end in a draw following regulation time have extra time added. This extra time consists of two 10-minute periods, where the first goal scored wins the game. If there is still a draw following those 20 minutes of play, a penalty shoot out takes place. 5 players from each time attempt to score from the place where penalty kicks take place. The team with the most goals following 5 shots each wins.

Classification

Four classes participate in the sport. These classes are FT5, FT6, FT7 and FT8. The type of disability for each class is: *FT5: Athletes with difficulties when walking and running, but not in standing or when kicking the ball. *FT6: Athletes with control and co-ordination problems of their upper limbs, especially when running. *FT7: Athletes with

hemiplegia Hemiparesis, also called unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia, in its most severe form, is the complete paralysis of one entire side of the body. Either hemiparesis or hemiplegia ...

. *FT8: Minimally disabled athletes; they must meet eligibility criteria and have an obvious impairment that has impact on the sport of football. Originally, classification for the sport was only open to people with cerebral palsy, but the classification system as later changed. This opened up the sport to people with brain injuries and other motor function disorders with functional participation similar to that of people with cerebral palsy. Teams must field at least one class C5 or C6 player at all times. No more than one players of class C8 are permitted to play at the same time.

Spreading

The following nations have a football national team: ;Africa : Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia ;America : Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, USA, Venezuela ;Asia :

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, China, India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Macao, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates ;Europe : Belgium, Denmark, Germany, England, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales

Major world competitions

The sport has several major competitions. These include the IFCPF CP Football World Championships, former the CPISRA Football-7-a-Side World Championships. The first CPISRA World Championships took place in Denmark in 1982, four years after the first international competition for the sport took place in Scotland at the Cerebral Palsy International Games. 7-a-side football was also played at the Paralympic Games, making its debut at the

. It was dropped from the Paralympic program for the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

. ; List of major world competitions * IFCPF World Cup *

Football 7-a-side at the Summer Paralympics Football 7-a-side was contested at the Summer Paralympics between 1984 and 2016. At the 1984 Summer Paralympics, two events were held—one for men with wheelchairs and one for men standing. Every Summer Paralympics since then has consisted of o ...

* Football at the Cerebral Palsy Games

Continental championships

* Africa: to date, there have been no international championships in Africa since there are too few teams. * Oceania: to date there have been no international championships in Oceania as there are too few teams. There are only two members of the IFCPF in Oceania: Australia and New Zealand. Australia has participated in the European World Cup 2010 except for competition. ;List of continental championships * IFCPF European Championships * IFCPF Americas Championships * IFCPF Asia-Oceania Championships * Football 7-a-side at the ASEAN Para Games

References

External links

Homepage der International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football
{{IPC-recognised paralympic sports * Association football variants Cerebral palsy and other paralytic syndromes