Para Football (Soccer)

General Rules

Match Duration

The match duration for five-a-side football is 50 minutes which is divided into two halves of 25-minutes. Each of the team can request a one-minute time-out in each half. Seven-a-side football is played for two thirty-minute halves with a 15-minutes half-time break.

Disability Class

In 5-a-side football, only athletes with visual impairments compete. The goalkeeper in the team must be either sighted or partially sighted (belonging to B2 or B3 category). The disability classes for them are:-

B1

Totally blind or have a very low visual acuity.

B2

Partially sighted, have a visual acuity of 2/60 or a visual field of not more than 5 degrees.

B3

Partially sighted, have a visual acuity of 2/60 to 6/60 or a visual field of 5-20 degrees.

In 7-a-side football, athletes with cerebral palsy or other neurological disorders compete.

The disability classes for them are:-

FT5

Hypertonia in both lower limbs and to some extent in upper limbs. Athletes have difficulty in running, turning and stopping.

FT6

Coordination and balance problems in all four limbs and trunk because of athetosis or ataxia. Difficulty in dribbling the ball especially when running.

FT7

Hemiplegic athletes (only one side of the body is affected which causes the players to walk and run with a limp).

FT8

Minimally impaired athletes.

• Other rules of the sport are same as that in soccer for able-bodied players except for the match duration and there are no off-side rules in both the formats and one-handed throw-ins are permitted.

Officials

Same as that in soccer

Techniques

Same as that in soccer

Participants

Two teams compete against each other in Para-soccer. In five-a-side football, teams consist of five players each side including the goalkeeper and in seven-a-side football, seven players (including the goalkeeper) each side.

Playing Area

Five-a-side football is played on a rectangular field measuring 40 m long and 20 m wide. The length of the field is covered by kickboards to prevent the football from going out of play and the penalty area is semi-circular in shape. While in seven-a-side football, the playing field is 75 m by 55 m. In five-a-side football, the ball makes a noise because of a sound system located inside it that help the players to play the ball.