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South Sudan Forms Blind Football Association


South Sudan’s Blind Football League teams, Kator FC and Juba Boys, for face-off final match at Dr. Biar Sports Complex in Juba, South Sudan, June 27, 2023. (VOA/Dimo Silva Aurelio)
South Sudan’s Blind Football League teams, Kator FC and Juba Boys, for face-off final match at Dr. Biar Sports Complex in Juba, South Sudan, June 27, 2023. (VOA/Dimo Silva Aurelio)

JUBA — 20-year-old Clement Tereka, who scored the winning goal during the final tournament match of South Sudan's Blind Football League, called his opponent, Kator FC, a tough challenge after his team, the Juba Boys Football Club, won the league's inaugural season.

"In this game it is not easy to bring a goal because you can’t see but when you focus and keep a direction, you score a goal," Tereka told VOA, about his game winning goal.

The league, which started two months ago, is the first of its kind in the East African nation catering to visually impaired players.

To adjust the game and accommodate the players, the balls and goal posts used in the matches are equipped with alarms that ring to alert the players of their location on the pitch.

Simon Madol, a coach for the South Sudan Blind Football Association, said injuries are part of blind football as new players master the rules of the game.

South Sudan’s Blind Football League's Juba Boys FC celebrate their cup win at Dr. Biar Sports Complex in Juba, South Sudan, June 27, 2023.
South Sudan’s Blind Football League's Juba Boys FC celebrate their cup win at Dr. Biar Sports Complex in Juba, South Sudan, June 27, 2023.

"I realized that players have not yet coped up with the word 'Voy' Madut said, adding that "sometimes we end up making accidents, but I am sure with time it will not be one of our problems."

The football fixtures feature four blind players, two people who are not blind — the goalkeepers — and a referee.

Players are instructed to yell "voy" when they tackle their opponents to warn them and minimize the chance of injuries during play.

Blind football is yet to be popular in South Sudan, as many people doubt visually impaired persons’ ability to participate in a football match.

Dudu Santuke, a fan who attended the final, said it was his first time seeing an event of its kind.

"It is very enjoyable and according to me, I did not believe they were going to make it possible but now that I am seeing them on ground playing and struggling to get the ball, I didn’t believe these are blind people playing," Santuke said.

The chairperson of the South Sudan Association of the Visually Impaired, Lewis Madut, said through blind football, lives of many young men and women who remain at home after losing sights will change.

Madut said the tournament was an example of the ability of visually impaired players to succeed on the pitch.

Moving forward, the Blind Football League says it will work on participating in regional and international tournaments.

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