Amputee football


Amputee football is a disabled sport played with seven players on each team. Outfield players have lower extremity amputations, and goalkeepers have an upper extremity amputation. Outfield players use loftstrand crutches, and play without their prostheses.
WWW worldamputeefootball.comIG waffworldcup2022

History

The beginnings of Amputee football can be traced to Europe in the early 1900s. The game which is played today, was created by Don Bennett, who was inspired from his accidental kick of a basketball on crutches in 1982.
In 1984 the first international amputee football tournament was held in Seattle. With the help of soccer coach Bill Barry, beginning in 1985, Amputee Soccer International was established. Through exhibition matches in the 1980s, the sport attracted media attention and gained popularity. In 2003, the World Amputee Football Federation (WAFF) became the new global governing body for amputee football.
In 2023, Marcin Oleksy from Warta Poznań, Poland became the first amputee footballer to win the FIFA Puskás Award for "most beautiful goal of the year" at The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 ceremony.

Around the world

There are several amputee football associations around the world under the WAFF umbrella. A couple examples of this are the England Amputee Association and The Irish Amputee Football Association.
Each amputee football organization promotes the advancement of the sport and that it gains more recognition. The England Amputee Football Association states their main goal on their website as: "The England Amputee Football Association's aim is to provide all amputees, people with congenital limb deficiencies and persons with restricted use of limbs, with the opportunity to play football locally, nationally and internationally".
First official women games was played in 2024.

WAFF members

52 nations in 2025:
  1. Asia: 11
  2. Europe: 15
  3. North America: 5
  4. South America: 6
  5. Africa: 15
  6. Oceania: 0

Main competitions

Asian Amputee Football Championship

Asian Amputee Football Confederation - President: Masayuki Sugino - 11 nation members in 2025: BANGLADESH, INDIA, INDONESIA, IRAN, IRAQ, JAPAN, MALAYSIA, PALESTINE, SYRIA, UZBEKISTAN, YEMEN

Rules

The official FIFA sanctioned rules are:
  • An amputee is defined as someone who is 'abbreviated' at or near the ankle or wrist.
  • Outfield players may have two hands but only one leg, whereas goalkeepers may have two feet but only one hand.
  • The game is played with metal crutches and without prostheses, the only exception being that bi-lateral amputees may play with a prosthesis.
  • Players may not use crutches to advance, control or block the ball. Such an action will be penalised in the same way as a handball infringement, but an incidental contact between crutch and ball is tolerated.
  • Players may not use their residual limbs to voluntarily advance, control or block the ball. Such an action will be penalised in the same way as a handball infringement, but an incidental contact between residual limb and ball is tolerated.
  • Shin pads must be worn.
  • Use of a crutch against a player will lead to ejection from the game and a penalty kick for the opposing team.
  • The pitch measures a maximum of 70 x 60 metres.
  • The dimensions of the goals are 2.2 metres maximum x 5 metres maximum x 1 metre.
  • A FIFA standard ball is used.
  • Time: Games consist of two 25-minute halves, with a ten-minute rest period in between.
  • Both teams are allowed a two-minute time-out per game.
  • Offside rules do not apply in amputee football.
  • International rules stipulate that a team be made up of six outfield players and a goalkeeper. Certain tournaments, however, require teams of four outfield players plus goalkeeper, as was the case in Sierra Leone.
  • Goalkeepers are not permitted to leave their area. Should this occur deliberately, the goalkeeper will be ejected from the game and the opposing team awarded a penalty kick.
  • An unlimited number of substitutions can be made, at any point during the game.