The IBSA Football Committee is delighted to report that Vienna, Austria, will play host to a major event to promote the participation of women and girls in blind football.

Vienna will host a two-day training camp for female blind footballers, coaches and referees followed by an international tournament from Wednesday May 3rd to Sunday May 7th 2017.

IBSA is partnering with its member organisation from Austria, Para-Sport Austria – Austrian Disability Sports Federation, to deliver the camp and tournament.

The initiative is the most important event in the IBSA Blind Football Development Project Europe for this season. The IBSA Football Committee runs this project thanks to funding from UEFA.

Caption: women's blind football in Cordoba, Argentina.

The training camps and tournament aim to promote women’s and girl’s involvement and empowerment in blind football in any roles. They will be open to women and girls who want to get involved in any role in the sport, whether as players, referees, guides, coaches, medical staff, support staff or in administrative roles.

While focussing on Europe, the event will be open to other countries developing women’s blind football, and it is hoped to have women and girls from three continents taking part.

Caption: a female trainer coaches blind players in Vienna, Austria.

Participants will be accommodated at a hostel close to the city centre and training facilities have been secured at a nearby sports complex, just ten minutes on foot from the hostel.

Project funding will cover the cost of accommodation, meals and local transport for participants from European nations. A registration form will be distributed to all European countries in the next few days.

Preliminary programme

Wednesday May 3rd – arrivals
Thursday May 4th – training
Friday May 5th – training
Saturday May 6th – competition
Sunday May 7th – departures

For more information on the initiative or the IBSA Blind Football Development Project Europe contact [email protected].

Caption: female blind players from Hungary and the Czech Republic after a match (© Silvie Hrbackova).