Women's goalball team inherits place at Paris Paralympics

The women's goalball team will compete in the Paralympics in Paris, France. According to the Brazilian Confederation of Sports for the Visually Impaired (CBDV), Brazil will take the place originally allocated to the African continent, whose regional qualifying tournament did not meet the requirements of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The Brazilians had three opportunities to secure themselves in Paris previously, without success. At the 2022 World Championship, in Portugal, the team needed to reach the final, but fell in the first phase. At last year's World Games in Great Britain, the team had to be champions, but took bronze. At the Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile, also in 2023, the green and yellow team would qualify if they won gold, but they also won bronze, leaving them, at first, out of the Paralympics.

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In parallel, the African Women's Goalball Championship had only three participants (Algeria, Egypt and Ghana). To be considered valid by the IPC as a qualifying tournament for the Paris Games, the event needed to have at least four teams. As a result, the continent lost the Paralympic spot that women would have been entitled to.

The International Federation of Sports for the Blind (IBSA) then offered the place to the best team at the World Games that was not already guaranteed in Paris. As China and Japan were already classified, the invitation was made to Brazil, which accepted. All that remains is official confirmation from IBSA.

“I would like to highlight how happy the girls were when I broke the news. Everyone was crying, cheering, celebrating. It was exciting to see. And now the perspectives of our work change. What was thought to be five, six years, became five months”, said coach Alessandro Tosim, who took over the women's team in December, in a statement to the CBDV website.

“We have to work hard. The group already has different thoughts and proposals and is showing great progress. I made it clear to them that I had the privilege of competing in three Paralympics and winning three medals. I won’t be left out of the podium for this one either”, added the coach, who led the men’s team to win gold in Tokyo.

Goalball is a sport aimed at people with visual impairments. Each team has six athletes, three of which can be selected as starters. To ensure that players with low vision do not have an advantage over those with total blindness, everyone on the court wears blindfolds. The ball has a rattle, the sound of which helps with spatial orientation.