Game on for Gaza’s football amputees
A soccer team for amputees are giving new hope to Palestinians who’ve lost limbs in the ongoing conflict with Israel
FOR the little boy, soccer was his escape from the madness that was his world – the crowded refugee camp, the constant danger, the horror and heartache that made up daily life under the shadow of war. And nine-year-old Ibrahim Khattab was doing what he loved best – kicking a ball around with his friends in the dust around the Deir El Balah refugee camp in the southern part of the Gaza Strip – when his life changed forever.
He was hit by shrapnel from a missile fired by an Israeli drone, and when he woke up in hospital several hours later he discovered he’d lost a leg.
Devastated, Ibrahim became too introverted to leave the house, too depressed about his injury to face the world.
But this year something remarkable happened: Ibrahim was recruited into a soccer team made up of players just like him – boys and men who’ve lost limbs in the Gaza-Israel conflict and needed some light in a tunnel of darkness and despair.
Ibrahim is now 13 and the youngest member of “Heroes FC”. The team have changed Ibrahim’s life, says fellow team member Naji Mahmoud Naji (26).
“In the first two training sessions he barely said a word but now he’s the most enthusiastic of all of us.
“He doesn’t miss a single practice, and he’s the one who pushes the others to do more.”
Naji, who was just 15 when he lost a leg in an explosion in 2007, was part of the amputee soccer team from the start.
The Champions Team, as it’s been affectionately nicknamed, started in early April with four players and has already expanded to more than 20.
Most of the team’s players, who range in age from 14 to 40, are disabled as a result of Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Since 30 March alone more than 16 000 Palestinians have been wounded and another 140 killed during demonstrations demanding Israel lift its Gaza blockade and allow Palestinians to return to the homes they fled or were driven from.
THE Champions Team is the brainchild of former soccer player Fouad Abu Ghalyoun. “The idea came to me while I was watching the final match of the European championship between Turkish and British amputees at the end of last year,” Fouad says.
“I thought it would be great if we could start something like that in Gaza. We have a lot of people with amputations because of the wars.”
A member of the Paralympic committee in Gaza and chairman of the Palestine Amputee Football Association, Fouad is also a counsellor for Deir El Balah Rehabilitation Society, a local NGO that supports people with disabilities.
His mother lost her leg during an Israeli bombing in 1948. “That’s why people with disabilities are close to my heart,” he says.
Fouad first researched the basic prin-
‘We have a lot of people with amputations because of the wars’
ciples of the game and Fifa regulations regarding players with disabilities. Outfield players can have two hands and one leg while goalkeepers can have two legs and one hand, according to Fifa rules, which the team have adopted. He then coordinated with the rehab society to start the team.
“It hasn’t always been easy, especially in a place with 60% youth unemployment,” he says.
“For example, taxis and transportation are a heavy cost to bear.”
Amputee footballers require special crutches and Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip and Egypt’s closure of its borders have made importing equipment virtually impossible and expensive.
The rehabilitation centre provides football kits and arranges time on the municipality playing field, but the club still lacks funding.
The team train for two hours every Monday afternoon. Volunteer coach Ahmed Abu Shareef (48) says he’s devised personalised routines for each player.
“I did a lot of research to reach the best results with them,” he told United Arab Emirates publication The National.
“I studied each case individually to learn the type of exercise that would be suitable for each one, especially since some are amputated above the knee and others below the knee.
“Most of the players have lost their right leg and it’s difficult for them to use their left leg to kick the ball.”
DESPITE the siege of the Gaza Strip, Fouad is confident he can form another four amputee teams from other districts in Gaza within the next few months so they can compete against one another. Their ultimate aim is to form a national side that can represent Palestine and compete at international level, including at the Paralympic Games. Fouad also hopes to create a girls’ team soon. One of the team’s goalkeepers is Hamza Sersawi (23), who lost his left foot to an explosive bullet in 2012. Before the explosion, he was part of the Palestinian athletics team. Although he’s now also paralysed on the left side of his body, he loves sport, and Heroes FC makes him feel as if he can lead a normal life and be part of a group. The other goalke ep e r, Is l am Amoon (27), lost his left arm in 2014. “When I heard about the team, I insisted on becoming a member,” he told The National. “At the beginning it was difficult but now I have a target in my life and I’ll do my best to succeed in it. “My real victory over my disability will be when I hold a cup we’ve won. That’s my dream and I believe it will happen.” S