Even the ball is smarter than politicians

Without a doubt, the main event of the outgoing year for blind football, which has been cultivated in our country for many years, was the creation of a “smart” ball. Shortly before the New Year holidays, a novelty, which has no analogues in the world, was tested at the Football Festival for the Blind in Mytishchi near Moscow.

“An ordinary ball for the blind is equipped inside with balls in metal capsules that ring when moving, helping the players navigate,” explained Nikolai Beregovoy, president of the Football Federation for the Blind. “But in a static position, it does not make sounds, and you need to spend time searching. In the ball with electronic filling, developed in the Sensor-Tech laboratory, the disadvantage is eliminated: the motionless projectile begins to vibrate.

The Russian team of the totally blind, participating in B1 category competitions, has long established itself at the international level. For example, at Euro 2015 she became vice-champion, two years later she won gold medals on the continent, at the World Championships in 2018 she entered the top four. Individual players also received high recognition: at such tournaments, Andrei Tikhonov was recognized as the best player, Anton Yakovlev – the best goalkeeper. But now, for political reasons, the Russians were excommunicated from last year’s European Championship, and therefore they lost the chance to qualify for the upcoming world forum, and they will not perform at the 2024 Paralympics either. Participation in major competitions in 2025 and 2026 is still in doubt.

If the Russian Football Union is discussing the possibility of moving from the European confederation to the Asian one, then the situation for blind athletes is somewhat different.

– I think it would be better to develop under the auspices of the RFU – there are specialists, and a material base, and equipment, – Nikolai Beregovoy expressed his opinion. – But at one time we, like colleagues from other sports, were not referred to specialized federations, but to the sport of the blind. Therefore, if we try to move to Asia, the decision will not be made by FIFA, UEFA and AFC, but by the International Federation for Sports for the Blind – IBSA. And not the fact that she will go forward. By the way, Kazakhstan in big football belongs to Europe, and in football for the blind – in Asia.

In general, it remains to develop internal competitions – both for the totally blind and for the visually impaired, which in the classification are classified into categories B2 and B3. Now varieties are actively cultivated in only seven or eight regions, and once there were many times more.

“The RFU, where this direction is headed by Alexei Smertin, holds the Steel Will tournaments four times a year,” recalled the head of the Blind Football Federation. – An adult and children’s team was created in the Crimea, where we also organized competitions, and gave the participants kits. I gave master classes in Lugansk. I cannot fail to mention the support of the administration of the North-Eastern Administrative District of Moscow – we are given a training ground at the Sviblovo stadium for free, and the presentation of the SVAO team also took place.

Georgy Morozov.

Photo courtesy of the Blind Football Federation.