European Amputee Football Championship kicks off in Kraków with win for hosts Poland

The European Amputee Football Championship got underway in front of almost 6,500 fans in host city Kraków yesterday, as Poland opened the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Ukraine.

The second edition of the championships, featuring 14 national teams from around the continent, continues every day this week at three venues around the southern Polish city, with free entry for fans.

Sunday’s match at the stadium of top-flight side Cracovia followed an opening ceremony featuring former Liverpool and Poland goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek as well as a video message from 2020 Best FIFA Men’s Player Robert Lewandowski, the tournament ambassador.

Following a goalless first half, in which Ukrainian goalkeeper Oleksandr Kupriianov produced a string of excellent saves, Poland made their dominance pay in the second period.

Krystian Kapłon broke the deadlock before Bartosz Łastowski, known as the “Polish Messi” of amputee football, added two more goals to complete a comfortable win.

Poland, one of the favourites for the tournament following their third-place finish at the inaugural edition in Istanbul in 2017, continue their campaign on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Prądniczanka stadium against their other two Group A rivals, Israel and Spain.

Defending champions Turkey take on Italy and Georgia in their group at Garbarnia stadium. England, the runners-up last time round, face Greece and France, while Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Russia make up the final group.

The top two teams from each group will face off in the quarter finals, with the victors returning to the Cracovia stadium this weekend for the semi-finals, third-place playoff and final.

Amputee football is played by teams of six outfield players who use their leg to kick the ball and crutches to help them move around the pitch. Each side has a goalkeeper with only one hand. Matches consist of two 25-minute halves.

The sport was invented by accident in the early 1980s by a Seattle man, Don Bennett, who instinctively raised up on his crutches and kicked a basketball back to his son in his backyard. Numerous unofficial world championships and official World Cups have now taken place.

“For the past 8-10 years or so, amputee football has experienced a real boom,” Mateusz Widłak, president of the European Amputee Football Federation, said in an interview in the tournament programme.

“In Europe alone, the number of countries where the sport is practised has increased from 11 to 19 in the last five years,” he added.

“The Polish team has made rapid progress since its inception,” continued Widłak. “We are one of the European leaders in this sport. Kraków has been the capital of Polish amputee football for several years now.”

“Sport should always bring people together,” said Robert Lewandowski. “When I saw the guys on the pitch for the first time, they immediately stole my heart. They show that no matter what adversity may befall any of us in life, we can never give up.”

Main image credit: Jakub Wlodek / Agencja Gazeta

Ben Koschalka

Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.