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The beautiful, blind game

I imagine there might be a footballer or two who has woken from a nightmare where they can’t see the ball, or the oncoming tackler, or the pitch itself, in the middle of which they’ve ended up lost, unable to momentarily know which direction they are playing.

Such is the usual – and definitely not nightmarish – world for players in blind football (where getting the wrong direction on the pitch is only an occasional problem, quickly remedied).

Blind football is played worldwide: its World Cup takes place next year in England. Here in Japan, for the national team to qualify, it has to come through the Asia Cup in December this year [note: 2009] – in which the Chinese enter a team boosted by training for last year’s paralympics. (Meanwhile, as might be expected, South American teams dominate, and European teams strong.)

The rules are simple, the action fast. The ball is filled with ball bearings that rattle as the ball moves, enabling the players to spot the ball (very accurately – although if the ball is too fast or too slow the rattle diminishes and spotting it harder). It may be tough to make or anticipate a fully committed, no-holds-barred tackle when both you and the opponent are blind, but that is what happens – with little or no restraint. (It’s a foul, meanwhile, to not shout “Voy” – from the Spanish – when running to get the ball as that allows other players to know where you are.)

It’s five-a-side, including a sighted goalkeeper but plus a “caller “ for your team behind the opponent’s goal. All the players on the pitch wear a blindfold to eliminate any potential cheating from anyone sighted or partially sighted. But many players are totally blind. For example, Yasuhiro Sasaki – of the Warriors and the Japan national team – can see nothing, though he was partially sighted when younger, when he was a fan of regular football. In fact, with no remembered image of football and concept of the space of a pitch, it’s becomes a more difficult game.

The “caller” is a crucial aid to the players, calling out directions to the ball, and, importantly, distance and angle to the goal. Newly-started caller Haruka Fujikura, was anxious over projecting her voice just before this year’s national championships in Japan at the beginning of July: although it seems a team “supporter” job, you have to be on the ball yourself and train with team-members. She got involved with blind football after becoming a supporter of football during the World Cup. Sasaki says he’s happy that many people come to blind football “from an interest in football first, then any interest in the disability”.

The organizers of the game in Japan (the Japan Blind Football Association) intend to boost awareness. Earlier this year, at the press launch, ex-Japan national team (of regular football) and J-league player Hiroshi Nanami (of the squad which won the Asia Cup in 2000, when he was named “most valuable player”) gave a speech to assembled sports journalists; a new poster featuring ‘60s-‘70s player Kunishige Kamamoto was unveiled; and J-pop duo Cousin announced the download version of their commissioned support song. All in all, blind football might become a little less invisible.

- Andrew Pothecary (Summer 2009)