Blind Football is an exciting, fast paced 5-a-side football played by visually impaired athletes using a ball with a noise-making device inside. Played on a smaller pitch on an enclosed court, the game was only introduced as a Paralympic event in 2004. There is more dribbling and short passing than in the mainstream sport, and crowds remain quiet during play to ensure that players can hear the bal
l, their team-mates and opposition players. Matches are played between two teams, ground size of 40 m X 20 m, each with four outfield players and a goalkeeper. The outfield players are visually impaired (VI) and wear eyeshades to ensure fairness; however, the goalkeeper may be fully or partially sighted. The pitch is surrounded with a rebound wall; the sport is played with no throw-ins and no offside rule, which ensures non-stop action. Matches are played over two halves of 25 minutes each, plus 10 minutes for half-time. All players are blindfolded before a game so that this becomes a ‘level playing field’ for all players – partial or fully blind
Genesis of the Indian National Blind Football Team
The first steps to put together an Indian National Blind Football team was taken by SRVC ( Society for Rehabilitation of the Visually Challenged) together with IBSA ( Indian Blind Sports Association, New Delhi ) in 2013.The Indian team drew with Hong Kong 1-1 in its first game, where Delhi star Ankur shot the lone goal. The team lost to hosts Thailand and had to come through a penalty shootout with Hong Kong and Naufal T N ( from the SRVC Kerala Team) slamming home the deciding penalty to ensure a semi-final spot. Though the team lost to eventual tournament top-seeds and world no 5 Iran in the semi-finals, this proved to be a great exposure to the team.
