A few seconds before the start of the first match of the French blind football team which opposed him, Sunday 1is September, in China, the instructions in several languages had been reminded to the public: respect silence during the game phases. A “shhhhh” was displayed on the two giant screens.
Read also | Paralympic Games: a great day for the French team, with the titles of Emeline Pierre, Tanguy de La Forest and Marie Patouillet… Relive the day of Sunday, September 1
Add to your selections
Among the 11,000 spectators seated in the Champ-de-Mars stadium with its breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower, the French were in the vast majority. They sang at the top of their lungs The Marseillaise, shouted a loud one: “Come on, Blues! The supporters are here!”a few vuvuzelas rang out and feet tapped the floor of the stands, largely drowning out the voices of the few Chinese fans present. But, at the kick-off, a religious silence filled the stadium.
In blind football, football for the blind or visually impaired, silence is golden during the game. A point in common with tennis. It is the only one because, on the field, there is noise, and a lot of it. And the players must hear it in order to play.
“We are football fans, we wanted to discover this sport. So, we just reviewed a few rules before coming, just so we wouldn’t be totally lost,” said Pierre (who did not wish to give his name). He and his group of friends cite as an example the ball that contains bells allowing the four players, their eyes hidden by an opaque blindfold for reasons of fairness, to spot it.
The role of the goalkeeper
“5 meters, straight, 4 meters, back, forward, right…”the role of the goalkeeper, the only sighted player on the team, is obviously to stop the opposing team’s goals but also to give instructions in the defensive zone. Two guides are positioned in the center of the field and behind the goalkeepers’ cages. Suffice to say that the information must be clear and concise.
“We give them instructions so that they have more points of reference and can make decisions because, in the field, they are completely autonomous,” he said.explained, a few days earlier, Benoît Chevreau de Montlehu, one of the two goalkeepers of the French team. “Some guides have very different sound intensities from ours”he added. Certainly, on Sunday evening, it was the Chinese guides who were heard the most.
In this hubbub, you don’t have to strain your ears to hear the players’ cries. « Voy »I’m going in Spanish, is their watchword. Players use it when they are about to attack the ball. In theory, it helps avoid collisions. In practice, there are many. Communication is crucial but reduced to keywords rather than long sentences: “I’m moving forward”, “I’m going”, ” I have “ or even ” lost “ when the ball has been recovered by the opposing team.
You have 47.28% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
