Five years ago, South Sudan didn't have a blind football team. Now their national side has won its first international tournament and moved a step closer to making it to the 2028 Paralympics. The players and their coach told RFI what's driving them on a challenging journey.
"It was an amazing experience. It was really great," head coach Simon Madol told RFI from the Ugandan capital Kampala, where South Sudan's blind football team defeated the hosts on 29 October to secure the African Championship Division 2 trophy.
"Coming from far and this being the first championship we're participating in, and the first championship for blind football in South Sudan, it was amazing. And we won in our first try."
South Sudan's "Bright Stars" won the final against Uganda 3-0, with captain Martin Ladu Paul scoring twice and striker Yona Sabri Ellon adding another goal.
"I'm very happy because this is our first day and we won the championship in the Horn of Africa," said defender Allison Christopher. "From the beginning, it was not all that easy. But by the grace of God, we were able to overcome the challenges and we have won the trophy."
The team will now progress to Division 1 next year and move one step closer to a dream that once seemed impossible: qualifying for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
Learning curve
Blind football arrived in South Sudan in 2020 with just two players, supported by the UEFA Foundation and non-profit Light for the World. Played with a ball containing a bell, the sport requires players to communicate constantly to let each other know where they are.
"From the beginning it was really hard," says Madol, who is sighted.
Soon after the team started playing came the coronavirus. "At the time, Covid-19 was really active," the coach remembers. "So it was really hard from the beginning to do continuous practice.
"And I was also learning coaching myself, having an instructor from Germany, assigned to me by Light for the World, to train me on blind football, and I was also doing my own research."
The players, too, had to master the rules – which was sometimes a source of frustration. "They could hit each other, but they love the sport, so they kept coming until they got used to the rules," says Madol. "And now everything is perfect."
But with the team's promotion, the coach knows the coming matches will be more serious, and he expects the players to up their game.
"We used to train once a week and I think now it's time to at least train maybe four times a week to get ready for 2026."
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Lack of facilities
With few suitable pitches available, the players travel to a private ground that the team has to hire.
"This has only been possible thanks to Light for the World and this initiative, supported by partners like the Adidas Foundation and South Sudan Association of the Visually Impaired," Madol added. "With their support, we are able to practice in the ground even though we have to pay for it.
"All the other places are really not that accessible for football, especially blind football, because we need a place that is level, a place that has side boards. Currently in South Sudan, there is no ground meant for blind football."
The Bright Stars' coach hopes their win will increase awareness of inclusive sport.
"I love sports so much. I love football so much. I use this opportunity to be able to exercise what I love and support others who really love it too," he told RFI.
"I'm so proud that it is contributing to developing blind football in South Sudan and changing the negative perception of people who are thinking that, having visual impairment, players cannot participate in sport, especially football. So we are changing the negative attitudes of people toward disability and people with disabilities."
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Ellon, the team's number 7, scored a total of five goals in last month's tournament and has his sights set on the next challenge.
"We know that next year we are going to participate in Division 1 of the African blind football championship, so we know that it is going to be more competitive," he told RFI.
"So that means we need to make sure that next year we pick up from where we have ended with the same spirit, the teamwork and the winning mentality. We need to carry it from this year to next year."
Listen to this story on the Spotlight on Africa podcast.
