Amputee Soccer

Taking a break from our normally ridiculous variations on the sport of soccer, this week’s clip is a bit more inspirational. Amputee soccer has been played for three decades now, tracing its origins to El Salvador where soldiers and civilians who lost limbs during the war played it for exercise. The sport quickly spread to countries the world over. Today there are domestic leagues, regional competitions and an international World Cup -the 2007 Amputee Soccer World Cup will be held November 8 – 18 in Antalya, Turkey.

While the players in the field are single leg amputees who play without prostheses on aluminum crutches, the keepers are single-arm amputees. I don’t know this for a fact but I’m betting that the referees officiate without brains

Most of the rules of amputee soccer are essentially the same as the able bodied version except for the added rule that players aren’t allowed to use their crutches to strike the ball or any other players, although I’m sure the temptation to whack your opponent must be great. In general the games are played on shorter pitches (artificial surfaces seemed to be preferred) and sometimes feature teams of five or seven, but that varies depending on the competition.

If you have ever spent any time on crutches you know that getting around on them is not the easiest of tasks, which makes the speed at which Amputee soccer is played all the more impressive.

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Category: World Football