by The increased attention to women’s football around the world has encouraged many women to play. Representing their country is a source of pride and a significant achievement. However, there are still gaps in the process. At the Paralympic Games in Paris this year, only men will take to the field, fighting for a medal in blind five-a-side football.
The men’s five-a-side blind footballer made its Paralympic debut in 2004 but the women are still waiting for their entry. There is some hope, however, that this will change for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. The International Blind Sports Confederation (IBSA) is awaiting a decision from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) regarding the presence of women’s blind football in the programme. “Because women’s football is a Paralympic sport, it will get the support of sponsors all over the world”, says Elias Mastoras, IBSA blind football chairman. “I hope the IPC will be open-minded because blind women’s football is developing all over the world.”
Mastoras is right: women’s blind football continues to grow. His first official world championship was held in Birmingham last August. Argentina won the eight-team tournament and Las Murciélagas (the Bat Girls) are now preparing to host the first major women’s convention in October.
Gracia Sosa, the 33-year-old captain of the Argentine team and voted the best player in the world championship, hopes that the sport will be accepted for the 2028 Paralympic Games and that her national team will receive more support. “Sports have always fascinated me,” she says. “It was a beautiful experience with the girls. It’s a very nice group and we’re really united. The support of the fans is a bit difficult but since people know from last year’s championship that we have a team in Argentina and they support us.”
Sosa, who also competed for Argentina in athletics and rowing, fell in love with football as a child and played for years alongside men before moving on to other sports because there was no blind team the girls in their hometown, Córdoba. In 2016, she joined Las Murciélagas and she has been with the team ever since, coached by her childhood friend, Gonzalo Abbas. For her, one of the highlights of the world championships was being able to enjoy the international atmosphere with her team.
“My English was terrible,” she says. “But we managed to communicate and connect with the German team. After the game we took photos and stayed there, together. It was a great feeling. They gave us those kinds of hugs that you feel in your heart, you know? They never met you, but they were happy to be there.
“I always say the park is freedom for someone who can’t see. Those who know how to appreciate it can enjoy it as much as possible. Even if you lose, draw, and even when things don’t go well, you will be free. That’s how I see it: and I don’t mess with my football or mine mateor I’ll be mad.”
Five-a-side blind football is played on a 40 x 20 meter field. Players can be completely blind – category B1 – or partially sighted (B2 and B3) to compete in women’s football, making it more inclusive. The football must have bells or some other system that ensures the ball makes noise as it moves on the field or through the air. There are records of the sport being played since the 1920s, but the rules were not recognized internationally until 1996. Until last year only men could play in official competitions.
“What we saw in Birmingham was amazing,” says Mastoras. “It was a clear sign that women around the world can participate in sport and we are here to hear their voice.”
Almost 15 years ago, existing blind women’s football teams in many countries met in Marburg, Germany, to play an unofficial international tournament. It was won by the Brazilian club Urece, based in Rio de Janeiro. Years later, in 2017 and 2019, two camps hosted around 60 players from nine countries in Vienna, Austria. The first world championship was due to be played in 2020 in Enugo, Nigeria – but was postponed due to the pandemic.
“In Paris the football for the blind will be played in front of the Eiffel Tower and all the media will be there so it’s like the twist of the sport,” says Mastoras. “It would be great to have women’s football there as well. But now we hope that it will be in another iconic foundation, in the United States, a country where women’s football is very important and very popular.”
Sosa, who competed in athletics at the 2008 Games in Beijing, now dreams of returning to the Paralympics 20 years later. “I was only 18 years old then, I was very young. It would be great to be able to feel adrenaline in another sport,” she says. “Football is so beautiful and it would be very important to have women’s football in the Paralympics because it is another door for women to continue this beautiful sport.”
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