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From 12th to 23rd of June 2013, in Loano, eight teams from all over Europe will contend the 9th title of European football Champion for the blind.
ITALY - FRANCE - SPAIN - GERMANY - RUSSIA - ENGLAND - GREECE - TURKEY
These delegations will arrive on the western Ligurian coast to play for the title of Europe's best.
The championship is addressed to completely blind athletes (their category is B1, different from B2 that represents the visually impaired). The game consists of a normal game of futsal, where all the players are blind, except for the goalkeeper.
The field is customized with barriers that prevent the ball from going out and help speed up the game, the ball has a rattle inside that allows players to locate it on the pitch.
At European level, Italy has never stood on the podium before and is not amongst the favourites, but may be the revelation of this season. Italy is this year’s host and in collaboration with Fispic, Italian Federation of Sports Paralympic visually impaired and blind, is working in the organization of this international event that will bring in Liguria a large group of athletes from all over the continent.
The Championship will begin with the arrival of the delegations at the Hotel Loano2 Village at around 12.00 am on the 12th June of 2013. All matches will be held at the synthetic field of "Ellena" complex.
The first two days will be devoted to the classifications of the players, this procedure is required in all competitions involving athletes with disabilities, to determine the category they belong within the subdivision of each discipline. In the specific case the IBSA (International Blind Sports Association) uses three categories, designated with the prefix B (Blindness - Blindness). Classification is a continuous process, when athletes begin to compete in the races they are classified in a certain category, and this can also be done during a competition, as will happen in this case, for athletes (not yet rated above that the verification for those already classified for two years) has prepared official sports men called “classifiers” that will be in charge of verify the athletes’ level of blindness.
After two-day classifications, on June the 14th at 15.00 there will be a draw which will divide the teams into two groups of four, following this four crossed semi finals will decree the two nations that on the 22nd of June 2013 will play the final.
PROGRAM
Wednesday the 12th of June 2013 - Arrival of the delegations
Thursday the 13th of June 2013 - Classifications of athletes and training
Friday the 14th of June 2013 - Drawings of the groups Opening Ceremony
Saturday the 15th of June 2013 - 4 games 9.00 to 11.00 - 16:00 to 18:00
Sunday the 16th of June 2013 - 4 games 9.00 to 11.00 - 16:00 to 18:00
Monday the 17th of June 2013 - 4 games 9.00 to 11.00 - 16:00 to 18:00
Tuesday the 18th of June 2013 - Rest
Wednesday the 19th of June 2013 – Semi finals crossed Thursday the 20th of June 2013 - Final for the 7th and '8th place
Friday the 21st of June 2013 - Final for the 5th and 6th place
Final for 3rd and 4th place
Saturday the 22nd of June 2013 - Final European Championship 18.00 Close news
