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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 Championship. [2]
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:
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]
Generally speaking, the rules of blind football are very similar to the rules of futsal. There are, however, some important exceptions:
| Years | Venues | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | Number of teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 Details |  Campinas | Brazil | 1–0 |  Argentina |  Spain | 2–0 |  Colombia | 6 |
| 2000 Details | Jerez | Brazil | 3–0 | Argentina | Spain | 4–0 |  Greece | 8 |
| 2002 Details | Rio de Janeiro | Argentina | 4–2 | Spain | Brazil | 2–0 | Colombia | 9 |
| 2006 Details | Buenos Aires | Argentina | 1–0 | Brazil |  Paraguay | 2–1 | Spain | 8 |
| 2010 Details |  Hereford | Brazil | 2–0 | Spain |  China | 1–0 | England | 10 |
| 2014 Details |  Tokyo | Brazil | 1–0 | Argentina | Spain | 0–0 (2–0 in penalties) | China | 12 |
| 2018 Details | Madrid | Brazil | 2–0 | Argentina | China | 2–1 |  Russia | 16 |
Source: IBSA Football – Results Archived 20 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine
| Year | Venue | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | Number of teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 Details | Campinas |  Belarus | 3–2 | Spain |  Italy | 9–2 | Argentina | 6 | |||
| 2002 Details | Varese | Belarus | 14–2 | Russia | Spain | 3–2 | Brazil | 12 | |||
| 2013 Details | Miyagi | Russia | 1–0 (AET) |  Ukraine | England | 14–0 | Japan | 4 | |||
| 2017 Details | Cagliari | Ukraine | 3–0 | England | Russia | 2–2 (2–1 in penalties) | Spain | 8 |
Source: IBSA Football – Results Archived 20 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine
| Year | Venue | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | Number of teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Details |  Vienna | Japan | 1–0 | IBSA select [lower-alpha 1] | England/ Greece select | 0–0 (1–0 in penalties) | Russia/ Canada select | 4 |
Source: IBSA Football – Results Archived 20 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine
Source: [4]
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | ESP | GRE |  GBR | ITA |  POR | |||||
| 1999 | ESP | GBR | GRE | POR |  FRA | |||||
| 2001 | Unknown | |||||||||
| 2003 | ESP | ENG | FRA | GRE | ITA | |||||
| 2005 | ESP | FRA | ENG | GRE | ITA | POR | RUS | |||
| 2007 | ESP | GBR | FRA | GRE | ITA |  TUR |  GER | |||
| 2009 | FRA | ENG | ESP | GRE | GER | TUR | RUS | ITA | BLR | |
| 2011 | FRA | ESP | ENG | TUR | RUS | GRE | ITA | GER | ||
| 2013 | ESP | FRA | TUR | GER | RUS | ITA | GRE | ENG | ||
| 2015 | TUR | RUS | ESP | ENG | FRA | GER | ITA |  BEL |  POL | GRE |
| 2017 | RUS | ESP | ENG | FRA | TUR | GER | ITA | BEL |  ROU |  GEO |
| 2019 | ESP | FRA | ENG | TUR | RUS | ITA | GER | BEL | ROU | GRE |
| 2022 | FRA | TUR | ENG | GER | ITA | GRE | POL | ROU | ESP |  CZE |
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | ROU | GEO | GRE | CZE |  ALB |  IRL |  MDA | |||
| 2019 | ROU | GRE | GEO | BLR | ||||||
| 2021 | ROU | GRE | POL | ALB | ||||||
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | GER | ENG | ||||||||
1 Spain 2 Italy 3 Belarus 4 Great Britain 5 Ireland
1 Spain 2 Belarus 3 Great Britain 4 Italy 5 France 6 Russia 7 Greece
BLR UKR ESP FRA IRL ENG ITA TUR
BLR ESP UKR ENG RUS ITA TUR
ESP RUS UKR ENG ITA TUR AUT
UKR FRA GBR TUR ESP
UKR RUS ENG ITA TUR GEO
Paralympic football consists of adaptations of the sport of association football for athletes with a physical disability. These sports are typically played using International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) rules, with modifications to the field of play, equipment, numbers of players, and other rules as required to make the game suitable for the athletes
Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded inside of it into the opponents' goal. The ball is thrown by hand and never kicked. Using ear-hand coordination, originating as a rehabilitation exercise, the sport has no able-bodied equivalent. Able-bodied athletes are also blindfolded when playing this sport.
The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) 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 partially-sighted people in society through sport and to encourage people with a visual impairment to take up and practise sports. IBSA is a full and founding member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
B1 is a medical-based Paralympic classification for blind sport. Athletes in this classification are totally or almost totally blind. It is used by a number of blind sports including blind tennis, para-alpine skiing, para-Nordic skiing, blind cricket, blind golf, five-a-side football, goalball and judo. Some other sports, including adaptive rowing, athletics and swimming, have equivalents to this class.
B2 is a medical based Paralympic classification for blind sport. Competitors in this classification have vision that falls between the B1 and B3 classes. The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) defines this classification as "visual acuity ranging from LogMAR 1.50 to 2.60 (inclusive) and/or visual field constricted to a diameter of less than 10 degrees." It is used by a number of blind sports including para-alpine skiing, para-Nordic skiing, blind cricket, blind golf, five-a-side football, goalball and judo. Some sports, including adaptive rowing, athletics and swimming, have equivalents to this class.
B3 is a medical based Paralympic classification for blind sport. Competitors in this classification have partial sight, with visual acuity from 2/60 to 6/60. It is used by a number of blind sports including para-alpine skiing, para-Nordic skiing, blind cricket, blind golf, five-a-side football, goalball and judo. Some other sports, including adaptive rowing, athletics and swimming, have equivalents to this class.
Turkey men's national goalball team is the men's national team of Turkey. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. The team takes part in international goalball competitions.
Great Britain women's national goalball team is the women's national team of Great Britain. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. It takes part in international goalball competitions.
Sweden women's national goalball team is the women's national team of Sweden. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. The team takes part in international goalball competitions.
Ukraine women's national goalball team is the women's national team of Ukraine. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. The team takes part in international competitions.
Belgium men's national goalball team is the men's national team of Belgium. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. The national team takes part in international competitions.
Israel women's national goalball team is the women's national team of Israel. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. It takes part in international competitions.
Russia women's national goalball team is the women's national team of Russia. It takes part in international goalball competitions. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment.
The IBSA World Games or World Blind Games are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA). The events enable blind and partially sighted athletes to compete in a number of sports. The first event took place at Madrid, Spain in 1998.
The Cerebral Palsy Games are a multi-sport competition for athletes with a disability, which under the former name of the International Stoke Mandeville Games were the forerunner of the Paralympic Games. The competition has been formerly known as the International Cerebral Palsy Games or the Stoke Mandeville Games. Since the 1990s the Games are organized by the organisation Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA), so they called also CPISRA World Games.
Blind football is played in Australia. The sport was introduced in the country in Victoria in 2014 as a result of Blind Sports Victoria creating a blind football development program. A regional blind football league was created in Victoria in 2015. The following year, the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) held a workshop in Melbourne, which was attended by representatives from blind sport organizations in New South Wales. Blind football continued to develop in 2017, governance of the sport was transferred to Blind Sports Australia who wanted to create a national team and develop the sport outside Victoria. That year also saw Australia get is first IBSA recognized blind football referees. In 2018, a talent development search took place in Sydney.
IBSA Africa Goalball Championships is one of the four competition regions used for World Championships and Paralympic Games qualification for goalball, a team sport for the vision-impaired.
Lithuania men's national goalball team is the men's national team of Lithuania. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. It takes part in international competitions.
The IBSA Blind Football Asian Championships is an multi-sport event, held biannually for Asian and Oceanic men's and women's blind football national teams. In the men's tournament, China holds a record of six titles won, making them the most successful national team at the championship. The women's tournament only started on 2022, which saw Japan earn their first title in the two-team contested edition.
France women's national goalball team is the women's national team of France. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. The team takes part in international competitions.