‘A disability is not inability’: How this blind soccer league is changing lives in the world’s newest country

South Sudan is not known for its soccer presence.

The world’s youngest nation is typically associated with basketball, with several current and former NBA players having roots in the country and the Bright Stars international squad making its Olympic debut earlier this year.

But one grassroots competition is beginning to make waves in the country with a different version of the Beautiful Game and is shining a much-needed light on disabilities in the nation.

South Sudan’s Blind Premier League is backed by Light for the World, a non-governmental organization that works for disability rights and inclusion in South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda. It focuses on eye health and works with “under-served communities,” helping people with disabilities facing multiple barriers, such as children, women, rural communities and those hit by disaster.

The pioneering league began holding matches in 2023 and is currently made up four teams, all based in the nation’s capital city of Juba. The majority of the players are in their 20s, though the youngest player is 15.

For those involved with the league, it provides an opportunity that many thought that they would never have.

Jimmy Just Augustin, who captains the competition’s Kator Blind Football Club, had never even heard of blind soccer before he was introduced to it.

Augustin went blind as a child in 2012. He experienced pain in both of his eyes, but was told by a village doctor that nothing was wrong. He eventually visited a doctor in Juba, but by that point, his retinas were damaged beyond repair.

He was forced to give up soccer but discovered the blind format in 2020. He has been nicknamed “Messi” – after the Argentinean soccer legend – by his teammates as a result of his dazzling dribbling ability.

“I’m very happy with this experience, because I never thought that I would play football again … I was thinking that I can never play any kind of sport again,” he said, speaking to CNN Sport. “With disability, you can think, ‘I’m nothing, I don’t have something to do now, I’m useless.’ But currently, the activity is there, the (opportunity) to dribble the ball is there.

“I’ve got new friends, and this experience that I’ve got from blind football makes me very happy.”

Away from the pitch, Augustin is a first-year student at the University of Juba and advocates for disability inclusion in schools. He told CNN about what it means to him to set an example for other people with disabilities in South Sudan.

“A disability is not inability. If you are not seeing, it’s not that you are useless or not able to do something,” he said, adding that he tells visually impaired people: “If you want to change your life, come and join blind football.”

The rules of blind soccer

The rules of blind soccer differ significantly from its able-bodied counterpart. Each team is made up of five players: four outfield players and a goalkeeper. The outfield players must be classified as “completely blind” – meaning they have “very low visual acuity and/or no light perception” – but all of them must wear eye patching and eyeshades as some might see more light and shadows than others.

The goalkeepers, meanwhile, are sighted or partially sighted and provide vital communication to their team in defense, though they must stay inside the small, restricted area around the goal.

The ball has sewn-in rattles, making noise while it is on the move. Soccer games are notorious for their raucous crowds, but blind soccer spectators are required to remain silent during the game, so players are able to hear and locate the ball, which is a size three, smaller than the standard size five ball used in the 11-a-side, able-bodied game.

Matches are 40 minutes long (played in two 20-minute halves) and take place on 40m x 20m (or roughly 131.2ft x 65.6ft) fields which have walls all the way around to prevent the ball from going out of play, allowing for a faster paced game.

Players must shout “voy” or “I’m going” in Spanish – in a nod to the game’s Iberian roots – when making a tackle to warn opponents and minimize injuries.

Each team also has another two guides to help them, one at the halfway line and another behind the goal the team is attacking.

The International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) made blind soccer one of its official sports in 1996 and it has been a men’s Paralympic event since 2004.

Host nation France made history at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, winning its first gold medal in the sport by defeating Argentina on penalties in the final. Argentina ended the reign of Brazil in the semifinals, who had won gold at every Games since the event was introduced. The Seleção were forced to settle for bronze, beating Colombia in the third-place game.

Finding the light

After decades of civil war, South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 following a referendum, making it the world’s newest widely-recognized state.

The nation descended into a civil war of its own shortly after, with the war officially ending in 2018 – though violence persists to this day. According to the United Nations (UN) Refugee Agency, the conflict produced the largest refugee crisis in Africa.

It ranks second to last, only ahead of Somalia, on the UN’s Human Development Index. Nearly 2.4 million people had fled the country as refugees as of June 2023, while 2.3 million people are classed as internally displaced within South Sudan. Among them is Simon Madol, who lives at the Mahad camp for Internally Displaced People (IDP) in Juba.

Madol said that soccer was his “source of happiness and joy,” but he was forced to abandon it when civil war broke out in 2013. He explained to CNN that he came across inclusive sports when approached by Light for the World at the IDP camp. He now serves as both a coach and a technical director in the league and works with Light for the World as a Disability Inclusion Facilitator.

According to Light for the World, it is estimated there are about 1.2 million people with disabilities in South Sudan. The country signed the UN’s disability rights convention last year in a historic step.

Madol explained some of the challenges faced by disabled people in a nation facing so much internal struggle.

“The main challenge is the attitude of the people, a negative attitude,” he said. “Even in the family level, the community level, the level of negative attitude is always there, and this negative attitude leads to discrimination.”

Ignorance is at the root of the problem, according to Madol, and can dissuade people from getting involved in sports, such as blind soccer.

There are also everyday issues experienced in the workplace.

“Most of the institutions are not accessible … you can find that you want to go to the office, but because the doors are narrow – there are steps, no ramps – it becomes hard for you to go,” said Madol. “Even in the schools, these things are also here.”

When it comes to blind soccer itself, the sport is not yet as accessible as it needs to be.
Madol explained the specialized ball is not available to buy in the country – groups such as Light for the World have to provide the equipment – meaning that players are unable to practice anywhere other than at training. Matches are scheduled to be played every weekend, though it can be expensive to hire the pitches.

Despite some shortcomings, the competition has quickly had a positive impact, with Augustin saying that it has helped to raise awareness about disabilities and combat negative attitudes in the country, while Madol says that it has given its members a new direction in life.

“People are coming from far locations just to come and play this sport … Back in the day, they would only go from the house to school, from school to home,” he said. “But right now, there is another thing, blind football, where you find new people, new friends, communicate, make more connections, do other things outside – you support each other.”

Aiming high

Though the league is only a year old and still in a relatively nascent stage, it is focused on expansion. Madol told CNN that the aim is to involve teams from every state in South Sudan and has spent time in different parts of the country to assess how blind soccer can be brought to the area.

The league also has lofty international aspirations. According to Madol, organizers are currently in the process of registering with IBSA to create a pathway for South Sudan to compete at the Blind Football African Championship in 2026. Success at this tournament could potentially give the country a route into the World Blind Football Championships.

“And through the World Cup of blind football, who knows? Maybe in 2028, at the upcoming Paralympics, we might participate,” said Madol. “And if we don’t participate, we would have already prepared a way, and straight away, the next generation will pick up from there.”

He added that “dream” was no longer a suitable way to describe the league and players’ targets, and that the word “goal” is the more appropriate term.

“It was a dream, but it’s now coming into reality because we are now working on it,” he said.

The goal is shared by players like Augustin.

“We want this football to not just be played here in South Sudan only … not in Africa only, but worldwide,” he said.

“I want more players, more of these upcoming generations to come and join. Because leaders come, leaders go. Today, we are the founders. And tomorrow, the next generation will come and take over from us.”

This story originally appeared on CNN Sport.