Football 7-a-Side: 12 facts for London 2012

Here is a list of 12 interesting things you should know about Football 7-a-Side at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. 09 Aug 2012

Participants with and without an impairment at the UNOSDP Youth Leadership Camp tried out Paralympic Sport

ⒸIPC

By IPC

In order to ensure a fair game between two teams, each team has to have one C5 or C6 player on the field at all times and is not allowed to have more than two C8 players on the field.

1. Who? What? When?

Eight teams of 12 athletes will compete every other day from 1-9 September in Football 7-a-Side at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

2. Where?

The competition takes place at the Riverbank Arena inside Olympic Park. The stadium has two pitches, one with spectator seating and one that will be used as a warm-up area. Pink is being used for the area surrounding the pitch and blue for the field of play, and the venue is a temporary arena for the Games.

3. Field of play

The Football 7-a-Side pitch is 75m long and 55m wide with goals at either end which are 5m high and 2m wide.

4. History

Football 7-a-Side made its Paralympic debut at the New York and Stoke Mandeville 1984. Games.

5. Competition format

The Football 7-a-Side tournament features two groups of four teams playing in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals, with the winning semi-finalists going head to head for gold.

6. Match duration

A match of two halves lasts 60 minutes. In the group matches, games can be played to a draw. In the knockout stages, two 10-minute periods of extra time are played. If scores are still tied after this, the game goes to a penalty shootout of five kicks per team, followed by sudden death penalties if necessary.

7. Beijing 2008

At the last Paralympic Games, Ukraine defeated Russia in the gold-medal match and Iran beat Brazil for bronze.

8. One to watch

The Russian team has reached the podium in the last four Paralympic Games. Currently ranked world No. 2, they qualified for London 2012 after winning the 2011 CPISRA Football 7-a-Side World Championships.

9. Classification

Athletes competing in Football 7-a-Side have ataxia, hypertonia or athetosis - three impairment types that are most commonly associated with cerebral palsy. The players are allocated one of four sport classes C5-8, with C5 having the most severe impairments. Seven players are allowed on the field of play at one time.

The Russian team has reached the podium in the last four Paralympic Games. They qualified for London 2012 after winning the 2011 CPISRA Football 7-a-Side World Championships.

10. Level playing field

In order to ensure a fair game between two teams, each team has to have one C5 or C6 player on the field at all times and is not allowed to have more than two C8 players on the field.

11. Rules

There is no offsides rule and the throw-ins can be made by rolling the ball into the field of play using only one hand. Otherwise, the rules follow FIFA 11-a-side rules.

12. Going for gold

The London 2012 Football 7-a-Side gold-medal match will take place on 9 September at 16:00.