European Goalball Championships have begun

Competition runs until 19 November at the Centro de Desportos e Congressos de Matosinhos

On Monday, 14 November, the European Division B Goalball Championships began, the paralympic sport created exclusively for blind and low-vision people.

In the opening game the Portuguese men's team defeated Bulgaria by 12-9.

The competition runs until next Saturday, 19 November, at Centro de Desportos e Congressos de Matosinhos, with free entrance, and involves 17 European teams, male and female, with about 200 participants, including athletes, coaches, referees and staff.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Secretary of State for Sports, João Paulo Correia, the Vice Mayor of Matosinhos, Carlos Mouta, the administrator of Matosinhos Sport and town councillor for sports, Vasco Pinho, the administrator of Matosinhos Sport, Henrique Calisto, as well as Aurora Zanoli, from IBSA (International Blind Sports Federation) and Luís Gestas, President of ANDDVIS - National Association of Sports for Visually Impaired People, among other personalities.

Goalball is a paralympic sport and, like Boccia, is not an adapted sport. It was designed exclusively for people with visual impairment in the 1940s by a German and an Austrian to promote physical exercise for the wounded of World War II, and today it is one of the most cherished paralympic sports in the world.

The event is organised by the International Blind Sports Federation - IBSA Blind Football and ANDDVIS - National Association of Sports for the Visually Impaired with the support of the IPDJ - Portuguese Institute for Sports and Youth, the Matosinhos City Hall and Matosinhos Sport.