BROTHERS IN BLIND FAITH

Dumisani Ntombela is not the only blind coach plying his trade in football. Across the Atlantic in Brazil, another blind coach named Flavio has claimed five titles for his amateur club Fortress Bom Jardin. Now 46 years old, the Brazilian’s life changed aged 20 when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed – the injuries he sustained blinded him in his right eye. At the time he was still playing, and was a founding member of theYouth Sports Club in Bom Jardin. Shortly afterwards, in a match against Caucaia, he took a blow to the face in a mistimed tackle. A year later, the impact took its toll and he became blind in his left eye as well. His world fell apart, but football rescued him from despair as he was able to work at the club by helping ground staff, preparing the uniforms for the players and motivating the team. In 2005, a new opportunity came when the coach retired and the club hired Flavio as his replacement. Since then, he has helped the club to five titles. Like Ntombela, Flavio says his most powerful coaching tool is listening to and ‘feeling’ the movement of the ball and players. He also gets lots of tips from fans and players during matches, and has an assistant coach. By Rafael Luis Azevedo. This story appears on the blog www. verminososporfutebol.com.br Blind or partially-sighted people can play football too. The rules of blind soccer are very similar to the rules of futsal. There are, however, some important exceptions: • All players, except for the goalkeeper, are blindfolded. • The ball has been modified to make a jingling or rattling sound; these custom-made balls are available on sites such as Amazon. Players are required to say “voy”, “go”, or something similar when going for the ball; this alerts the other players about their position. • A guide, positioned outside the field of play, provides instructions to the players. •