Courtesy: FAI Futsal Portal


IBSA EUROPEAN FUTSAL TOURNAMENT NANTES FRANCE

Monday, 20 July 2009

by Gerry Behan

IBSA are the International Blind Sports Association. They are the Governing body that oversee all sports for the totally blind and the visually impaired athlete. From the 25th June Until 4th July IBSA organised the European Futsal Championships in Nantes, France. Referees were invited from around Europe to officiate at the tournament. The referees came from France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Ireland.

There were two categories that the players were divided into. The B1 Category catered for the Totally Blind player while the second category B2 /B3 catered for the visually impaired player with the B2 player having the most sight loss.
The referees arrived in Nantes on Thursday 25th in order to attend a two day seminar in preparation for the Championship ahead. This was designed to discuss the Laws of the Game that govern the game for Blind and visually impaired athletes. For the players of the B2/B3 category they play under the FIFA Laws of Futsal with a couple of changes, the most notable being the Goalkeeper not being allowed outside his penalty area.
The B1 category is very different. All of the players MUST wear eye patches and a BLINDFOLD. This is to ensure that all players are playing completely blind. The ball has a special acoustic system installed inside its bladder so when kicked and moving the players can hear it so they can follow the movement of the ball. Behind each goal is positioned a “Guide” who is allowed to speak to the players and guide them towards the goal that the players are attacking. The Goalkeepers can be fully sighted or from the B2/B3 category and they are restricted to an area of 2m x 5m in goals that are 3m x 2m. This is a sport that you need to see played to be fully appreciated. For the athletes that play it the last statement almost sounds cruel, as they cannot “see” the beautiful game that they play. For me it was a privilege and a very humbling experience to watch such commitment, under what most fully sighted people would consider impossible circumstances.

As a group of referees we were given the opportunity to “see” what it was like to be a blind footballer. We were taken to a football pitch and we were blindfolded and given a football. It was an experience I shall never forget. To this end I salute all of the players of the B1 category and the coaches and mentors that give up their time to help them play International Football.

It was late on the evening of 27th June when the 18 referees were split into two groups. One group were assigned to referee the B1 Category and the other for the B2/B3 Category. I was assigned to the B2/B3 Category. This category was to be staged in the spectacular Palais des Sport de Beaulieu that has a capacity for 5000 spectators.

The B1 competition was to be played in the Stade Michel Lecointre which is home ground to the reserve team of FC Nantes.

On the eve of the competition we were given our appointments for the day ahead. Mr Lionel Fisdel of Argentina was the referee assessor for the B2/B3 Tournament. He brought a wealth of Futsal experience from IBSA and FIFA to the tournament and we were all very grateful for his contribution to improving the standard of refereeing throughout the tournament.
The opening game of the B2/B3 competition was to be a tough test for the Irish team as they were matched against the runners up in the recent world championships in Argentina. They opened with a creditable 3 nil defeat against the team from Belarus, which was to prove the least amount of goals scored by them as they marched on to win the championship.
I received my first appointment as the lead referee in the game between Spain and Italy. As is always the case when you hear teams singing their National Anthems it can give you “goose-bumps” but none more so then when you hear the Italians singing their anthem with such gusto and obvious pride, it was indeed nerve tingling. Spain won this encounter 5-2 and it was played in good spirits by both teams and posed no problems for my French colleague and myself.
I was appointed to a second game in the afternoon of day 1 (Mr Fisdel did not have respect for the age factor) and this was to be a more volatile affair between England and the host Nation France. England were ranked 4th in the world and France 10th so it was a big shock when England were defeated 2-1 and missed a penalty late in the game to start with a draw. Though the game was played at a frantic pace the standard of Futsal was very good, both my Turkish colleague and myself encountered no problems in the match.

Day 2 proved to be an unlucky day for the Irish as they came out on the wrong side of a 3-2 result against Spain. This result was to cost the Irish team their place in the semi-final. Certainly a game they should have won. I was appointed to the Turkey v France game and France edged to a 2-1 victory against a valiant Turkish team. The game again posed no problems to my German colleague or myself.

Day 3 gave me the appointment to the game between Belarus and Spain. This game was to decide who would top the group. The team from Belarus proved to be too strong for Spain as they cruised to a 6-2 victory. My colleague was from France and this pairing was to be repeated later in the competition.
Ireland were to have their first success by comprehensively beating the Italians (but not in singing the Anthem) 5-2 this one finished which put Ireland facing the possibility of playing England if they could beat Turkey in the other group. They obliged by beating Turkey 6-1 which set up a meeting for Ireland with the “Auld enemy” in the 5th and 6th place play off.

Day 4 of competition was a rest day for the players and officials in the B2/B3 Category. This allowed for tired limbs to be rested and massaged in preparation for the games ahead. It also allowed the referees of the B2/B3 category to watch and support the referees in the very impressive B1 Category. It must be said that the camaraderie that developed over the ten days we were together was excellent with all referees supporting their colleagues throughout the competition.
The hospitality of the people of Nantes was superb. On the Wednesday night the entire group of referees were guest of honour at the Town Hall with the Lord Mayor of Nantes hosting the event. On the Thursday night we were taken on an incredible boat trip on the river Loire on a specially crafted restaurant boat. Another wonderful experience to add to the many had over the duration of the trip.

The appointments for the semi-finals were announced after our excursion on the river Loire. I was nominated to take charge of the game between Belarus and the hosts France. This game proved to be a little more troublesome than the 7- nil half time score line suggested. It was obvious that the French were feeling more than a little humiliated. By the time the game finished 12 nil there were two dismissals for second yellow cards one from each team.
The game between Ireland and England had taken place earlier in the morning. One month before the European competition England travelled to Dublin to play in a friendly, which they won 2-1. But it was the Irish team that were to take the win and fifth place on this day with a comprehensive 3 nil victory. In typical Irish fashion they will look back on this competition and think of what “might have been”. The second semi-final saw the team from Ukraine beat the Spanish 4-1 to set up a final that was to be a repeat of the World Final in Argentina two years earlier. Of which the team from Ukraine emerged victorious on the dreaded penalty kicks.

After each day of refereeing the referees were debriefed in their respective groups and points for improvement were discussed and noted. The appointments for the next day were then issued. The last day was to be a little different in that both groups were brought together for the appointments to both Finals and the 3rd and 4th place play off’s. In the B1 Category England progressed to the Final against the popular host nation France.

The announcement of the appointments for the last series of games was a bit like the Oscar Ceremony as each referee was named from 3rd referee to the first referee. So when it came to the B2/B3 Final I was like the rest of my colleagues, a little nervous and more than thrilled when it was announced that I would lead the team of referees in the Final between Belarus and Ukraine. My colleagues were to be two Frenchmen one that I had worked with earlier in the tournament.

On the last day of games the 3rd place was played between Spain and France with Spain emerging as victors and France taking a very commendable 4th place albeit unexpected.

Standing in the middle of my French colleagues listening to the National Anthems of these two great Eastern European nations left me feeling very proud of being given the responsibility of refereeing such an important game of Futsal. I am a firm believer that every game I referee is as important as the last one, but the realisation that this was being played in front of 1000 spectators for the European Championship, gave me a sense of pride and deep satisfaction at the fact that I had been entrusted with the game ahead.
In my pre-match brief I told both referees that I would ask them this single question after the final whistle “did you have good game?” If we can all honestly answer “yes” to that question then that would be good enough for us to enjoy the occasion only after the final whistle. It is my belief that the game will always belong to the players and the referee should be able to disassociate himself from the occasion, as it is the occasion that belongs to the players and we as referees can enjoy it only if we allow the game to be the spectacle it deserves to be. After all we referee the game NOT the occasion.

The game went like a dream and in typical fashion it also went very quickly. All players played it in the spirit befitting a European Final and Belarus emerged as European Champions over a very tired Ukraine team with a score-line of 4 nil.
When I asked the question to my colleagues we all said “yes” and perhaps more importantly Mr Lionel Fisdel of Argentina thought we did a good job too. We could now enjoy the occasion!

The B1 Final was scheduled for the afternoon with the 3rd place going to Spain in a 2 nil defeat of Greece. In the final England went into an early lead but the host Nation France was not to give up their opportunity of winning this final as they came back to win with a 3-2 score-line. Becoming the European Champions was a fine reward for the host Nation as the competition ended and the official closing ceremony came to its conclusion. The event ended with a Banquet that was staged in a marquee at the FC Nantes Stadium. It was a fitting close to a sensational 10 days of competition , refereeing and making of new friends.

The next major event is for our FIFA Futsal Referee Rob Rogers as he takes his place in Europe’s elite group of Futsal Referees during August as he is taking charge of the UEFA Futsal Club Qualifying Stages. I wish him good luck and every success on his trip.

If you are interested in Futsal Refereeing in your area contact Derek O’Neill to find out when there is a Futsal Referee conversion course in your area.







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com