Paris to Host IBSA Blind Futsal Seminars

The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) takes its UEFA-funded IBSA Futsal Development Project Europe to Paris this weekend for two-day seminars.

Coaches and referees from Andorra, Italy, Portugal, Spain and hosts France will gather in Paris this weekend (12-14 November) for seminars in futsal for the blind and partially sighted. The two-day event is run as part of the IBSA Futsal Development Project Europe, made possible thanks to financial support from UEFA.

Starting on Friday afternoon, the participants - forty-five coaches and referees - will take part in classroom sessions and hands-on practical sessions involving blind players from the Paris region.

The seminars are organised in partnership with Commission Sportive Cécifoot Handisport, responsible for blind futsal in France.

Experienced and IBSA-accredited international coaches and referees will be on hand to teach the participants and ensure they pick up a solid grounding in the coaching skills needed to produce a successful blind futsal team or officiate a blind futsal match.

IBSA Futsal Development Project Europe

To date, IBSA has hosted eight seminars in different countries as part of the project. IBSA-member organisations, National Paralympic Committees and UEFA-affiliated football associations have been invited to participate.

Three hundred and seventy-eight coaches and referees from thirty-five countries have taken part in the seminars so far.

Dates, venues and participation:

March 2006 - Thessaloniki, Greece - 55 participants from 5 countries.

November 2007 - Oslo, Norway - 43 participants from 4 countries.

April 2008 - Hereford, England - 39 participants from 4 countries.

July 2008 - Berlin, Germany - 34 participants from 4 countries.

October 2008 - Moscow, Russia - 72 participants from 5 countries.

December 2008 - Antalya, Turkey - 37 participants from 3 countries.

March 2009 - Zagreb, Croatia - 52 participants from 4 countries.

March 2010 - Budapest, Hungary - 46 participants from 6 countries.