WHAT IS...
A relative newcomer to the Paralympics, blind football made its Games debut at Athens 2004. Since then, the sport has been utterly dominated by Brazil, which has won gold at every Games since its introduction. The game is played indoors on a 40 metre long, 20 metre wide court, surrounded by barriers called ‘kickboards’, meaning the ball never goes out of play. The ball has a metal plate attached to its interior, which makes a rattling sound when it rolls. Each team has five players, including four blind players – who wear eye coverings to ensure complete parity across players – and a sighted goalkeeper. Players who aren’t dribbling the ball signal their position on the pitch by saying “voy”, and spectators must be quiet in order for teams to hear their teammates and the ball.
