Cerebral Palsy Football, also called 7-a-side football or formerly Paralympic Football, is an adaptation of association football for athletes with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders, including stroke and traumatic brain injury. From 1978 to 2014, cerebral palsy football was governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA). In January 2015, governance of the sport was taken over by the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football, under the umbrella of Para Football.

The sport is played with modified FIFA rules. Among the modifications are a reduced field of play, a reduction in the number of players, elimination of the offside rule, and permission for one-handed throw-ins. Matches consist of two thirty-minute halves, with a fifteen-minute half-time break. Teams must field at least one class C5 or C6 player at all times. No more than one players of class C8 are permitted to play at the same time.

International competition in 7-a-side football began at the 1978 CP-ISRA International Games in Edinburgh, Scotland. The sport was added to the Summer Paralympic Games at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in New York City, U.S., and was played at every Summer Games until 2016.

Governance

From 1978 to 2014, cerebral palsy football was governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA). In January 2015, governance of the sport was taken over by the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football.^[1]

Different organizations govern the sport on a national level. In Australia, the sport is governed by Football Federation Australia, with the sport also having state governing bodies in the country. For New South Wales, this is Cerebral Palsy Sporting and Recreation Association NSW. In Queensland, it is Football Queensland. The sport is overseen by Football Federation South Australia in South Australia. In Victoria, it is run by Disability Sport and Recreation. In Western Australia, the sport is governed by Football West. In the Australian Capital Territory, the sport is governed by Capital Football. In Tasmania, the sport is run by Disability Sport and Recreation.^[2]

Rule modifications

While CP football generally follows many of the rules of association football, the sport includes a few modifications.^[3][4] These rules include a lack of an offside rule, and players being allowed to throw in the ball using only one hand.^[4][3][2] Throw-ins can be done using an underhand technique.^[5]

The game is also shorter, featuring two 30-minute halves with a 15-minute halftime break.^[4][3][2][6] It also includes only 7 players on the field for each team during play.^[3][2] The goal and the field are also smaller than the non-disability association football game.^[3][2][6] The field is 75 meters by 55 meters.^[5]

In tournament competition, playoff and finals games that end in a draw following regulation time have extra time added. This extra time consists of two 10-minute periods, where the first goal scored wins the game. If there is still a draw following those 20 minutes of play, a penalty shoot out takes place. 5 players from each time attempt to score from the place where penalty kicks take place. The team with the most goals following 5 shots each wins.^[4]

Classification

Four classes participate in the sport.^[4] These classes are FT5, FT6, FT7 and FT8.^[3][2][6] The type of disability for each class is:

• FT5: Athletes with difficulties when walking and running, but not in standing or when kicking the ball.^[2][6]
• FT6: Athletes with control and co-ordination problems of their upper limbs, especially when running.^[2][6]
• FT7: Athletes with hemiplegia.^[2][6]
• FT8: Minimally disabled athletes; they must meet eligibility criteria and have an obvious impairment that has impact on the sport of football.^[2][3][6]

Originally, classification for the sport was only open to people with cerebral palsy, but the classification system as later changed. This opened up the sport to people with brain injuries and other motor function disorders with functional participation similar to that of people with cerebral palsy.^[2][5][6]

Teams must field at least one class C5 or C6 player at all times. No more than one players of class C8 are permitted to play at the same time.^[5]

Spreading

The following nations have a football national team:^[7]

Africa

Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia

America

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, USA, Venezuela

Asia

Australia, China, India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Macao, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates

Europe

Belgium, Denmark, Germany, England, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales

Major world competitions

The sport has several major competitions. These include the IFCPF CP Football World Championships, former the CPISRA Football-7-a-Side World Championships.^[4] The first CPISRA World Championships took place in Denmark in 1982, four years after the first international competition for the sport took place in Scotland at the Cerebral Palsy International Games.^[6]

7-a-side football was also played at the Paralympic Games, making its debut at the 1984 Summer Paralympics.^{[3][2][5][6][8]} It was dropped from the Paralympic program for the 2020 Summer Paralympics.^[3]

Summer Paralympics

Main article: Football 7-a-side at the Summer Paralympics

Year	Host		Winner	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place		Number of teams		Ref.
1984 Details	New York		Belgium	1–0	Ireland		Great Britain	3–1	Portugal		6		[9]
1988 Details	Seoul		Netherlands	1	Belgium		Ireland	1	South Korea		5		[9][10]
1992 Details	Barcelona		Netherlands	3–2	Portugal		Ireland	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Great Britain		8		[9][10]
1996 Details	Atlanta		Netherlands	1–0	Russia		Spain	2–1	Great Britain		8		[9][10]
2000 Details	Sydney		Russia	3–2	Ukraine		Brazil	2–1	Portugal		8		[9]
2004 Details	Athens		Ukraine	4–1	Brazil		Russia	5–0	Argentina		8		[9]
2008 Details	Beijing		Ukraine	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Russia		Iran	4–0	Brazil		8		[9]
2012 Details	London		Russia	1–0	Ukraine		Iran	5–0	Brazil		8		[9]
2016 Details	Rio de Janeiro		Ukraine	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Iran		Brazil	3–1	Netherlands		8		[9]

1 = The tournament was played in a group mode.

• a.e.t.: after extra time
• p: after penalty shoot-out

World CP Football Championships

Men

1. 1990 - 2011 : CPISRA World Championship
2. 2015 - 2017 : IFCPF World Championship
3. 2019 - Ongoing : IFCPF World Cup

Year	Host		Winner	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place		Number of teams		Ref.
CPISRA tournaments
1990 Details	Assen (WC)	Netherlands	5–0	Ireland	Belgium	no information available2		5	[9][10]
1994 Details	Dublin (WC)	Netherlands	2–0	Ireland	Belgium	3	Spain		[9][10]
1998 Details	Rio de Janeiro (WC)	Russia	3–1	Ukraine	Brazil	3–2	Spain	11	[9]
2003 Details	Buenos Aires (WC)	Ukraine	3–1	Brazil	Russia	2–1	Argentina		[9]
2007 Details	Rio de Janeiro (WC)	Russia	2–1	Iran	Ukraine	2–0	Brazil	16	[9][11]
2011 Details	Assen, Emmen, Hoogeveen (WC)	Russia	6–1	Iran	Ukraine	8–3	Brazil	16	[9][12]
IFCPF tournaments
2015 Details	Burton-upon-Trent (WC)	Russia	1–0	Ukraine	Brazil	6–0	Netherlands	16	[9][13]
2017 Details	San Luis (WC)	Ukraine	1–0	Iran	Russia	2–0	England	16	[14]
2019 Details	Seville (Cup)	Russia	3–1	Ukraine	Brazil	4–1	England	16	[15]
2022 Details	Salou (Cup)	Ukraine	1–0	Iran	Brazil	2–0	United States	15	[16][17]

2 = There is no information on the homepage of the IFCPF

3 = no score found

• a.e.t.: after extra time
• p: after penalty shoot-out

1990 - 2022

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia (RUS)	5	0	2	7
2	Ukraine (UKR)	3	3	2	8
3	Netherlands (NED)	2	0	0	2
4	Iran (IRI)	0	4	0	4
5	Ireland (IRL)	0	2	0	2
6	Brazil (BRA)	0	1	4	5
7	Belgium (BEL)	0	0	2	2
Totals (7 entries)		10	10	10	30

CP Games

Main article: CP Games

Also counted as World Championship.

1. 1972 - 1980 (Not in Games Program)
2. 1982 - 2005 (Was played in 5 Editions)
3. 2005 - 2014 (Games was not held)
4. 2015 and 2018 : Was played in U19
5. 2018 - 2022 (Games was not held)
6. 2023 - Ongoing : Merge With IWAS = Abilitysport

Year	Host		Winner	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place		Number of teams		Ref.
1982 Details	Greve (CPG)		Ireland	2–0	Netherlands		Belgium	no information available2			8		[9][10]
1986 Details	Gits (CPG)		Netherlands	3–0	Belgium		Ireland	3	Portugal		6		[9][10]
1997 Details	Delden (CPG)		Russia
2001 Details	Nottingham (CPG)		Ukraine	3–1	Russia		Brazil	2–0	Iran		13		[19]
2005 Details	New London (CPG)		Ukraine	no score found	Russia		Iran	9–0	Netherlands		13		[10]

International Championships

Year	Host		Winner	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place		Number of teams		Ref.
2009 Details	Arnhem (IC)		Ukraine	0–0 (a.e.t.) (9–8 p.)	Russia		Iran	1–0	Brazil		12		[20]
2013 Details	Sant Cugat del Vallès (Cup)		Ukraine	1–0	Brazil		Russia	4–0	Ireland		16		[21]

2 = There is no information on the homepage of the IFCPF

3 = no score found

• a.e.t.: after extra time
• p: after penalty shoot-out

Regional competitions

• Africa: to date, there have been no international championships in Africa since there are too few teams.

• Oceania: to date there have been no international championships in Oceania as there are too few teams. There are only two members of the IFCPF in Oceania: Australia and New Zealand. Australia has participated in the European World Cup 2010 except for competition.

Pan American Championships

Year	Host		Winner	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place		Number of teams		Ref.
1995 Details	unknown (PSC)		United States	AM1	Argentina		Brazil	AM1	Chile		4
1999 Details	unknown (PSC)		Argentina	AM1	United States		Brazil	AM1	Chile		4
2002 Details	Santiago (PSC)		Brazil	3–1	Argentina		/ Chile United States	AM2	/ Chile United States		4		[22]
2003	Mar del Plata (PG)		no football 7-a-side tournament at the Parapan American Games										[23]
2006	Rio de Janeiro (AC)		In 2006 a CPISRA America Cup was planned in Rio de Janeiro. But this was not done since 2007 the Parapan America Games and the CPISRA World Championship is carried out.
2007 Details	Rio de Janeiro (PG)		Brazil	5–0	Argentina	Canada	1–0	United States	6	[24][25]
2010 Details	Buenos Aires (AC)		Brazil	AM1	United States	Argentina	AM1	Canada	6	[26][27]
2011	Guadalajara (PG)		no football 7-a-side tournament at the Parapan American Games										[28]
2014 Details	Toronto (AC)		Brazil	3–0	Argentina	United States	3–0	Canada	6	[29]
IFCPF tournaments
2015 Details	Toronto (PG)	Brazil	3–1	Argentina	Venezuela	2–1	Canada	5	[30]
2018 Details	Sangolquí (AC)	Brazil	4–2	Argentina	United States	3–0	Colombia	8	[31]
2019 Details	Lima (PG)	Brazil	5–3	Argentina	United States	7–0	Venezuela	6

AM1 = The tournament was played in a group mode.

AM2 = no score found

• a.e.t.: after extra time
• p: after penalty shoot-out

Asia-Pacific Championships

Year	Host		Winner	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place		Number of teams		Ref.
2002 Details	Busan (FG)		South Korea	Round Robin	Malaysia		Japan				3		[32][33]
2006 Details	Kuala Lumpur (FG)		Iran	5–0	Australia		China	4–0	Japan		6		[34]
2010 Details	Guangzhou (AsianG)		Iran	7–0	China		Japan	2–0	South Korea		4		[35]
2014 Details	Incheon (AsianG)		Iran	5–0	Japan		South Korea	3–0	Singapore		4		[36]
IFCPF tournaments
2018 Details	Kish Island (AOC)	Iran	AS1	Australia	Jordan	AS1	Thailand	5	[37]

AS1 = The tournament was played in a group mode.

• a.e.t.: after extra time
• p: after penalty shoot-out

European Championships

Year	Host		Winner	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place		Number of teams		Ref.
1991 Details	Nottingham (ESC)		Netherlands	3–0	United Kingdom		/ Ireland France	EU1	/ Ireland France		4		[10]
1995 Details	Nottingham (ESC)		Netherlands	0–0(a.e.t.) (– p.)	Russia		United Kingdom	EU1	United Kingdom				[10]
1999 Details	Brasschaat (ESC)		Ukraine	4–2	Netherlands		no information available						[10]
2002 Details	Kyiv (ESC)		Ukraine	6–1	Russia		Netherlands	1–0	Portugal		7		[10][22]
2006 Details	Dublin (EC)		Ukraine	5–2	Russia		Netherlands	2–1	Ireland		8		[10][38]
2010 Details	Glasgow (EC)		Ukraine	1–1 (a.e.t.) (9–8p)	Russia		Ireland	2–0	Netherlands		10		[10][39]
2014 Details	Maia (EC)		Ukraine	3–0	Netherlands		Russia	3–0	Ireland		11		[10][40]
IFCPF tournaments
2018 Details	Zeist (EC)	Russia	3–2	Ukraine	Ireland	2–1	Netherlands	12	[10][41]
2023 Details	Oristano (EC)	Ukraine	3–0	England	Netherlands	6–2	Germany	8	[10][42]

EU1 = no score found

• a.e.t.: after extra time
• p: after penalty shoot-out

ASEAN Para Games

Year	Host		Winner	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place		Number of teams		Ref.
2014 Details	Naypyidaw		Myanmar	ASE1	Singapore		Thailand	ASE1	Malaysia		4		[43]
IFCPF tournaments
2015 Details	Singapore	Thailand	3–0	Myanmar	Singapore	2–1	Malaysia	5	[44]
2017 Details	Kuala Lumpur	Indonesia	3–0	Thailand	Malaysia	4–0	Singapore	6	[45]
2022 Details	Surakarta	Thailand	(6) 2–2 (5) (a.e.t)	Indonesia	Myanmar	9–0	Cambodia	6	[46]
2023 Details	Phnom Penh	Malaysia	(3) 0–0 (1) (a.e.t)	Indonesia	Thailand	3-2	Myanmar	6	[47]

ASE1 = The tournament was played in a group mode.

• a.e.t.: after extra time
• p: after penalty shoot-out

See also

• International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football
• Cerebral Palsy Games
• IWAS World Games
• Blind football
• Amputee football

References

External links

• Homepage der International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football