Blind football is a sport played in teams of five by athletes with vision impairements. Of those athletes, four are outfielders and one is a goalie. The rules are similar to the official FIFA rules with a few adjustments. Each team competes to score a goal on their opponent’s side of the field.

 

Specialised equipment is used in blind football to ensure adaptability. The ball is hollow with a noisemaker inside allowing players with a vision impairment to follow. In this case, the entire stadium must be completely silent until a goal is scored.

 

All players except for the goalie wear blackout eye masks to ensure fair play and equal vision standards. The goalie must be sighted or partially sighted and does not need to wear a mask.

 

Teams are allowed to receive assistance from both an offensive guide and their goalie. The goalie may shout instructions to the players, and the offensive guide makes noise near the goal, providing a reference for where to shoot the ball towards.

 

Blind football matches last 30 minutes with a half-time at the fifteen-minute mark. The size of the goal and the field is smaller than football. The field is 40m by 20m and surrounded by kickboards. These kickboards prevent the ball from leaving the field of play.

 

This sport is governed by International Blind Sports Federation.
 

Source of information credit: International Paralympic Committee