TEHRAN – Iran blind football coach Javad Felfeli says that they are ready to win a medal at the 2018 IBSA Blind Football World Championships.
TEHRAN – Iran blind football coach Javad Felfeli says that they are ready to win a medal at the 2018 IBSA Blind Football World Championships.
The event will be held from June 17th to 25th in Madrid, Spain, with sight classification prior to opening.
“Iran is among the best Asian teams and countries around the world are considering us a strong team. The IBSA’s officials have also anticipated Iran could advance to the WC’s final match,” Felfeli said.
“We should be supported in the way we started. Iran needs to hold more training camps and play friendlies against non-Asian countries,” he added.
“To win a gold medal in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games is our long-term goal but first we have to earn our quota place for the Paralympics in the World Championships in Spain,” Felfeli, who led Iranian team to win a silver at the 2016 Paralympic Games, concluded.
The WC will be the first to feature 16 national blind football teams, up from 12 at the 2014 WC in Tokyo, Japan, and a clear sign of the game’s growth and development.
The 2018 tournament will be the seventh world championships and Spain stages the event for the first time since 2000. Brazil has won the championships four times (1998, 2000, 2010 and 2014) and Argentina has two world titles (2002 and 2006).