You are here
One-legged Egyptian football players aim for a league of their own
By Reuters - Jan 02,2018 - Last updated at Jan 02,2018
Mahmoud Tawfik, 28, captain of ‘Miracle Team’, a football team made up of one-legged, crutch-bearing football players, kicks the ball during a training session at El Salam club on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, on December 29, 2017 (Reuters photo)
CAIRO — A group of Egyptian football players have formed a team for one-legged players, hoping to start a league for disabled players in the country.
“The Miracle Team”, consists of 25 players from across Egypt who meet twice a week to train on a pitch in Cairo. While the team began training in freestyle football — a non-competitive art where players perform tricks with a ball — they soon decided to aim higher.
“I started bringing the people in and coach Yousry, the team coach, called me to start training me on freestyle football,” team captain Mahmoud Ibrahim Tawfik, who lost a leg in a road accident more than 20 years ago, told Reuters.
“I told him I have another dream of becoming a real life [football] player not just a freestyle footballer who has skills.”
The team hope to inspire other disabled Egyptians to take up the sport and eventually establish a federation which could regulate a domestic league for the disabled.
“In each governorate we are asking the players to form a team to spread the game,” said team coach Yousry Mohamed Ibrahim.
Despite their enthusiasm, the team faces a raft of challenges: a lack of funding, a paucity of special playing crutches and difficulties finding a regular pitch for training.
Amputee Football has special rules: seven leg-amputee players play on each opposing team, and the goalkeepers must have one arm. Crutches are not allowed to touch the ball and there is no offside rule or limits to substitutions.
There are 42 nations who now have national amputee football federations, according to the World Amputee Football Federation. The next amputee football World Cup is being held in Mexico later this year.
Related Articles
GAZA — A football team made up of Palestinians who lost limbs to Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip is giving its players new purpose.Players ag
LONDON — Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham boss Antonio Conte have called for January's League Cup semifinals to be switched to o
The Kingdom’s U-23 football team has regrouped to play three local friendlies during the training camp currently under way. Coach Jamal Abu Abed said the team would play Faisali on Wednesday, followed by a match against Jordan Professional League leaders Wihdat Thursday and Shabab Urdun on Saturday.