The Brazilian taste for football is known by many people, being a particular feature of our culture. But what few people know is that even though it is a sport of speed and contact, it can also be practiced by players with cerebral palsy.
The 7-a-side football, together with the 5-a-side football, which is aimed at the blind, make it possible for athletes with disabilities to practice a sport that is so highly regarded by people, especially Brazilians.
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During several editions of the Paralympic Games, the modality enchanted spectators due to the high level of competitors, who are extremely talented and skilled with the ball at their feet. However, as of the 2020 edition, it is out of the Games program, as decided by the International Committee.
It is very common to associate 7-a-side football with mental disability due to cerebral palsy. However, contrary to people's imagination, it is a motor disability, and therefore, there is no intellectual impairment in most athletes.
Currently outside the Paralympics program, the sport, which is an adaptation of the traditional modality, was created in Scotland, more precisely in the city of Edinburgh. Seven-a-side football appeared in 1978, during the third edition of the International Games for Cerebral Palsy.
From then on, the sport was disseminated in other countries, until in 1982, in Denmark, the first world championship took place. Worldwide, management is in charge of the International Association of Sport and Recreation for Cerebral Palsy (CP-ISRA).
It was only two years later, in 1984, at the New York Games, that 7-a-side football became part of the Paralympics.
Just two editions later, in 1992, in Barcelona, Spain, Brazil made its debut in the sport. Since then, the country has only won three medals in the competition. In 2016, during the Rio Games, playing at home, the Brazilians won bronze. Today, management responsibility rests with the National Association of Sports for the Disabled (ANDE).
Although the first Paralympic champion country was Belgium, currently, one of the countries that most stand out in the modality is Ukraine. The nation with the most medals, however, is the Netherlands.
In 2015, to the sadness of many athletes and admirers of the sport, it was announced that from the Tokyo Games, in 2020, it will no longer part of the competition program, on the grounds that they did not meet the minimum criteria of global reach of the Paralympic Committee International.
According to the rules, to be in the Paralympics, team sports must be practiced in at least 24 countries and in three regions.
Despite having some rules similar to traditional football, the 7-a-side football it has many specificities in its regulation. Check out the main ones:
7-a-side soccer players are classified according to the degree of physical impairment. A rating goes from 5 to 8, where eight is the lowest degree of commitment and five is the highest.
Class 5 athletes, as they are the most committed, can have many difficulties running, so they are preferred to occupy the goalkeeper position.
In teams, the presence of a class 5 or 6 player is mandatory and the number of class 8 players cannot exceed two.
