News
Blind Football European Championships set to begin
Date: August 21, 2015
Category: Football
Tomorrow sees the first match day of the 2015 IBSA Blind Football European Championships at Point4 in Hereford, England.
For the first time ever ten teams will be competing for the title of IBSA European Championships, up from 8 teams in previous tournaments. Teams are split in two groups of five for the initial group stage, which kicks off tomorrow at 13:00 when hosts England take on newcomers Poland.
Group A
England
Poland
Germany
Turkey
Italy
Group B
Spain
France
Russia
Belgium
Greece
Spain will be looking to retain the title it won in Loano, Italy, in 2013, while there will be strong competition from a number of countries, including hosts England, buoyed by a second-place finish at the IBSA World Games in Korea in May.
Poland and Belgium make their debut at the IBSA Blind Football European Championships, making the event the biggest ever.
In addition to the prestigious title of IBSA European Championships, there is the added incentive of a place at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games at stake as the top two teams in Hereford will qualify for the games.
Group stage fixtures are as follows:
Saturday 22 August – match day 1
13:00 England v Poland
15:00 France v Russia
17:30 Spain v Belgium
19:30 Turkey v Germany
Sunday 23 August 2015 – match day 2
13:00 Greece v Spain
15:00 Poland v Turkey
17:30 Belgium v France
19:30 Italy v England
Monday 24 August 2015 – match day 3
13:00 Russia v Belgium
15:00 Italy v Turkey
17:30 Greece v France
19:30 Germany v Poland
Tuesday 25 August 2015 – match day 4
13:00 Spain v Russia
15:00 Poland v Italy
17:30 Belgium v Greece
19:30 England v Germany
Wednesday 26 August 2015 – match day 5
13:00 France v Spain
15:00 Germany v Italy
17:30 Russia v Greece
19:30 Turkey v England
Follow all the results and action here or on the IBSA Blind Football Facebook page.
Follow the action on Twitter – @BlindEuros
Caption: Poster for the championships with the slogan 'trust your senses'.