REPORTAGE. Blind football: football is also played with the voice! Immersion in the heart of the French championships of the discipline, in Toulouse
On Saturday June 25, the Toulouse Stadium hosted the final stages of the French blind football championship. The opportunity to come back to one of the great medal chances for Paris-2024.
Toulouse Football Cécifoot finished seventh in the French championship. Adapted to the blind, this derivative of football is no less spectacular. Difficult to imagine for the able-bodied to practice such a sport with sound as the only point of reference. However, on the ground, the practitioners are very comfortable with the leather between their feet, multiplying the small touches of the ball.
“It’s amazing how they manage to drive the ball and move around”, can we hear on the edges of the field. Thanks to enthusiasts and volunteers, disability, like that of Babacar Niang, TFC striker, is no longer an obstacle to football: “It makes me happy to practice the sport I love. Football has always been a passion for me. The fact of coming to play despite the handicap in Toulouse, it only does me good.”
Blind football is played five against five, on a 24 m long field, and the matches are very noisy. For good reason, players can only identify with sound, and to help them, there are many tools. The balloon, first, is filled with bells, which makes it possible to locate it. The players, then, give voice, attackers as defenders: “They call each other, they recognize each other, for us the intonations of voice are trivial. They train all year together. A “here”, or a “there” and they recognize each other. For them, the sound information is much more developed. They also know where the defenders are because they are obliged to signal themselves. It’s a safety rule, they shout voy”, explains Alexis Salle, TFC coach and guide.
Teamwork
The field is also divided into three zones: defensive, central and offensive. In each of these spaces, an able-bodied person speaks. “In the offensive zone, the last twelve meters, I am the guide and I am placed behind the opposing goal. In this zone it is I who give indications to the attackers on the positioning and the fact of being behind the goals for them allows you to locate the cage before shooting”, underlines Alexis Salle. In the center of the field, it is the coach placed behind the barriers who gives indications. Finally, in defense, it is the goalkeeper.
The latter occupies a special position since he is the only valid one on the field: “It’s a bit, we are the only particular seer. Fortunately because it is already difficult enough like that in the end. We are in a handball goal about the same size with a small penalty area. It’s difficult because the players arrive thrown and you have to be ready to intervene in the feet with a German style, cross, for those Who knows. It’s a lot of reflexes on shots from very close and they hit hard. You have to be ready to sacrifice yourself,” says the Toulouse goalkeeper.
Heading for Paris-2024
France recently won the European Cup in Italy. “Baba” Niang, captain of TFC, also had the honor of wearing the Blues armband during the competition. Blind football in France is experiencing a real challenge, especially after the disappointing results of the last Paralympic Games. And the benefits were almost immediate.
“It shows that there is a reservoir and a real synergy that is being put in place around the France team and it is very good to continue like this for the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Games”, underlines the ”Coach of the Violets. The objectives of France and Boubacar Niang are clear, return from Paris with a charm: “On a competition at the end of August in Strasbourg. It is in the logic of preparing for the Paris Games. We set ourselves the goal of going for a medal. We work for.”