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Türkiye's Visually Impaired Women's National Football Team is set to make its debut at the Women's Blind Football European Championship, held in Istanbul from Oct. 1 to 8. The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) is organizing the tournament at the Riva TFF Hasan Dogan Camp and Training Facilities.
The national team was established in 2023 on the initiative of the Türkiye Visually Impaired Sports Federation. Ahead of the tournament, the squad has trained at the Aticilar Multipurpose Blind Football Field in Bursa, a city in northwestern Türkiye.
Head coach Can Kasapgil said the team includes nine visually impaired players aged 18 to 35 with different levels of vision, along with sighted goalkeepers.
Team captain Gulsah Akturk said the squad has trained regularly since May. She said the players had previously trained individually with their own clubs in their home cities, before the team held its first camp in June.
According to Akturk, the players trained twice a day during the camp and used the time between sessions to analyze matches and study opponents. Kasapgil said the team has held five camps since June.
Akturk said the team took part in its first international tournament and first world championship in 2025. The team finished sixth, ahead of Poland and Canada, which were also making their first appearances. The team scored the first goal in its history against Canada.
Five teams are set to compete in the European Championship: Türkiye, England, Austria, Poland and a neutral team. Akturk described England as the more experienced side but said she sees the two teams as evenly matched. She said she expects competitive matches against the others as well.
Kasapgil said the other countries have also only recently started in the sport. Both Akturk and Kasapgil said the team aims to win the championship. Tayfun Turgut, a federation board member, said the federation also targets the title and that the camp period in Bursa has ended.
The ball used in blind football has a bell inside. According to Kasapgil, the field is 20 meters (66 feet) wide and 40 meters long, with barriers along the sides that help players find their direction, stay within the field and avoid injury.
The field is divided into three zones with rules on who can give verbal directions. In the first 12 meters, only the goalkeeper and the opposing team's guide can speak. In the middle zone, both teams' guides can speak, and no one else may intervene. In the third zone, the team's guide behind the goal and the opposing goalkeeper can give directions. Any intervention stops play and results in a foul.
Kasapgil described the format as "a complete team game." He said the coach takes part in the match rather than giving tactical instructions from the sideline, while the goalkeeper also directs the team's defense in addition to making saves.
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