Goalball

Played by blind and visually impaired athletes. An official Paralympic sport since 1980 and played competitively in more than 100 countries.

Teams consist of 3 players with 3 substitutes (from classification B1, B2 or B3 with eyes masked to ensure vision equality) propelling a ball (which contains bells) by hand only, on an indoor volleyball court.

The objective is to pass the ball over the opposing sides end-line, thereby scoring a goal. The opposing team can use their entire body to try to block. Verbal instructions and the sound of the ball are crucial orientation guides for players.

When players hear the ball coming towards their end of the court, they dive, usually head-first, towards it hoping to block it with their body. If all three players miss the ball and it goes past the back line, it is considered a goal.

Each match is of 2 halves of 10 minutes, with overtime of 3 minutes each way in the event of a draw. 3 timeouts of 45 seconds. The team with the most goals wins the game.

A more detailed explanation of goalball's rules.

IBSA

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