Amputee Football
Japan Amputee Football Association (JAFA)What’s amputee football?
Football for persons having upper and lower extremity amputations
In 1980’s, one day an American amputee Don Bennett figured that he could kick a ball on crutches without his prosthesis when he kicked a basketball back to his son. It was the first kick of amputee football – since then, the sport has begun to spread as a part of rehabilitation program for disabled veterans.
In Japan, amputee football has a relatively short history. Japan Amputee Football Association was established at the end of 2009, and the spread began in 2010. Nevertheless the number of players was limited at the very beginning of the spread, the Japan national team made its debut at the 2010 World Cup in Argentina. There are currently 9 amputee football teams in Japan and the number of players has reached almost 100.
Persons having amputations, possessing a birth defect affecting a limb or a limb with no meaningful functions can have an easy access to amputee football that requires no special equipment and can be played with crutches on which they usually use for daily life and rehabilitations.
International governing body:
What are the rules?
● FP are not allowed to kick the ball in a fallen posture.
● No goal areas.
● No offside rules.
● No limit for substitutions except for goalkeepers (GK).
● Kick-ins, not throw-ins
● GK are not allowed to move out of the penalty area on their side