Five strong teams confirmed for blind football event in Turkey

European champions Russia*, African champions Morocco, European runners-up Spain, Italy and hosts Turkey will meet in the first Blind Football Istanbul Cup between 2 and 6 March.

Hosted by the Turkish Blind Sports Federation, the round-robin tournament is the first ranking event of the year in blind football. The Istanbul Cup will take place at the Hasan Dogan National Teams Training and Education Center.

This competition will serve as preparation for the 2018 International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Blind Football World Championships, to be held in Madrid, Spain, from 7-17 June.

The hosts will take on Morocco in the opening match on 2 March, followed by Russia against Spain. The schedule will be as follows:

2 March

2pm (local time) Turkey vs. Morocco

4:30pm Russia vs. Spain

3 March

10:30am Spain vs. Morocco

2:30pm Italy vs. Turkey

4 March

10:30am Turkey vs. Russia

2:30pm Morocco vs. Italy

5 March

10:30am Italy vs. Spain

2:30pm Morocco vs. Russia

6 March

10:30am Russia vs. Italy

2pm Spain vs. Turkey

Full story is available on IBSA’s website.

*Editor's note: The International Paralympic Committee suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee on 7 August 2016 for its inability to fulfil its IPC membership responsibilities and obligations, in particular its obligation to comply with the IPC Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Code (to which it is also a signatory). As a result of the suspension, Russian athletes cannot enter IPC sanctioned events or competitions, including the Paralympic Games.

On 29 January 2018, the IPC announced that eligible Russian Para athletes who met strict conditions would be allowed to compete in five sports at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. These sports are alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country, snowboard and wheelchair curling.

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