IT took him a while to get used to not being able to see his friends, family and blue skies anymore after losing his eyesight 16 years ago.

Having slipped into a 10-day coma after a bout of high fever, Mohd Arif Mahadhir woke up to an almost fully dark life ahead of him.

Initially, the eight-year-old had blurry vision but over time the little light he had declined to almost 95% visual impairment.

But Mohd Arif Mahadhir knew that this would not stop him from achieving the impossible – that is to play football.

Now 24, Arif is in Malaysia’s first blind football team and guided his side to their first gold medal at the Asean Para Games in 2015.

Having learnt the game late, at 17 years old, Arif, a UiTM business studies student, trains five days a week now.

He has taken a year off his studies to concentrate on winning the gold again this year.

He said they used to train on weekends only, but since the National Sports Council (NSC) took over, training is conducted throughout the week.

“Football is a passion. I love football and my teammates. It is different from other types of sports. Being blind and playing a game that requires teamwork makes us feel alive and strengthens our friendship,” Arif told The Malaysian Insight during a training break.

His friend and teammate Alhakim Norddin, 21, echoed the sentiments.

“We hope to win again and we are preparing to strengthen our team to compete in the Asean Para Games 2017,” he said.

As the interview ends, Arif is back on the bench listening to coach Sunny Shalesh shout out instructions to the team during a training session at the National Sports Council field in Bukit Jalil.

What is blind football?

According to Sunny, blind football is no different from mainstream football.

Because sight is no longer possible, sound and visualisation become the most important elements. The key to success lies in good communication.

“The players actually rely on the bearings in the ball… the sound from the ball that produces a jingly sound. So they run after the ball and communicate among themselves,” he said.

Using special terms on the field, the players communicate with each other and employ a special strategy to win the game.

The pitch is smaller than a regular football field and the game is played with four outfield players and a goalkeeper. But the game is still very challenging.

Apart from the sound of the ball and their teammates, the visually challenged team has to beat a sighted goalkeeper while trying to shut out the ambient sounds to avoid confusion.

“They can run with the ball, shoot, turn, dribble, take corners, free kicks and other things.

“Just that in mainstream football you can actually see but in blind football you can only hear.”

He also described the techniques by words which the players absorb and try to visualise in their mind.

“They will map the movement in their mind and translate it through their actions on the field,” said Sunny.

Most of players were not born blind except for one or two.

“This helps them visualise the process better,” said Sunny.

Long road to victory

Things weren’t always this good. There wasn’t much support when Sunny started this with his wife in 2009.

Sunny’s interest in building a recreational programme began when he saw his brother, who suffers from cerebral palsy, show interest in football.

“I would throw him a ball and he would kick it back. He loved it. So I thought why not build a football programme for the pan-disabled persons. From there, we developed a blind football team,” said Sunny.

Not many gave them any hope

“They thought it was a waste of time teaching the disabled and the blind how to play football. So I took up the challenge and look at where we are now,” he said.

During the early days, when people asked how to help, he would ask for food and small things that the team needed for training.

“If they don’t have shoes, we collect money and buy them shoes. If they don’t have transport we collect money to get them transport to commute to training. We make do. Then CIMB bank came on board,” said Sunny.

It was in 2011 that they managed to get a little funding from the bank to run the Pan Disable Club and also conduct training for the blind football team.

“The bank through its corporate social responsibility programme funded us in the form of equipment and facilities to practise. The other costs were self-funded and contributions from individuals,” said Sunny.

After six years of hardship, the football team is now under the care of the NSC.

The team has been absorbed into Kita Juara, a programme aimed at propelling Malaysia to the top of the medal standings in this year’s Kuala Lumpur SEA Games and Asean Para Games.

“We are finally having a full time programme and funding. And we hope to defend the gold we won in Singapore in 2015,” said Sunny. – April 9, 2017.