7 types of Disability Football
9.2 % of Japan’s population is persons with disabilities. Levels and types of those disabilities varies one by one and there are no same ones. Our mission is to achieve an inclusive society where everybody, with and without disabilities, can enjoy football without any obstacles. We believe that we can take steps to get over any “disability” in our society, through football.
There are 7 associations governing each type of disability football in Japan that are JIFF affiliated members. Each disability football association manages all activities in each category at a level of grassroots to national team. Here we introduce these.
The number of persons with disabilities and disability football players
| Persons with disabilities *1 | Disability football players *2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Physical Disability ・Amputee ・Cerebral palsy ・Other physical disabilities ・Blind ・Deaf |
4,360,000 | Amputee Football | 106 | 1,256 |
| Cerebral Palsy Football | 203 | |||
| Powerchair Football | 198 | |||
|
Blind Football Partially-Sighted Football |
499 | |||
| Deaf Football Deaf Futsal |
250 | |||
| Intellectual Disability | 1,094,000 | Intellectual impairment football Intellectual Impairment Futsal |
5,645 | |
| Mental Disorder | 6,148,000 | Football for people with Mental Health Problems | 1,348 | |
| Total | 11,602,000 | Total | 8,249 | |
- *1 Annual Report on Government Measures for Persons with Disabilities, 2023, the Cabinet Office (Japan)
- *2 According to our independent survey, April 2024
Disability football associations
Amputee football is 7-a-side football for persons having amputations. The game is played with metal crutches called a lofstrand crutch and without prostheses which players usually use.
Cerebral palsy football is 7-a-side football for persons with cerebral palsy, or an acquired brain injury. It is referred to as CP football for short.
Social football is futsal for people with mental health problems. The FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game generally apply to it in the same way with some modifications. In one example, a social futsal mixed team is allowed to include up to 6 players in Japan.
Intellectual impairment football/futsal is 11-a-side football/5-a-side futsal for persons with intellectual impairment. The IFAB/FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game generally apply to it in the same way except that the duration of a game varies according to degree of players’ impairment.
Powerchair football is 4-a-side football for persons with a high level of ambulation difficulty. Players use powered wheelchairs with a joystick-form controller handled by hand and chin.
Blind football is 5-a-side football played with a blindfold, using a ball which make sounds when it rolls and verbal communication. Blind football has been an official Paralympic event since 2004. Partially-Sighted football, on the other hand, is a variation of futsal for partially sighted persons.
Deaf football/futsal is 11-a-side football/5-a-side futsal for persons with hearing impairment. The IFAB/FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game generally apply to it in the same way with some modifications. In one example, a referee in deaf football uses not only a whistle but flags in making their calls so that players can obtain visual information.