Back to Sport

Sport Shortlist

Football’s Vibes
Lorenzo Foddai
Series description

Football’s Vibes is a photographic project developed in Rome that aims to show how human beings can surpass the limits imposed by their physical condition. Five-a-side blind football is a team game, and the mutual support between players forms a solid foundation on which they face their titanic challenge and express their immense inner strength and unbelievable resilience. This project was produced with the ASD Disabili Roma 2000 association, which is an amateur sports association that promotes five-a-side blind football for people of all genders and ages.

Biography

Born and raised in Rome, I have a technical-scientific background due to my school formation. This rigorous extraction gradually gave way to creativity that took shape thanks to a fascinating art as photography. In recent years I have therefore devoted myself entirely to photography, with a particular passion for the photo-journalism. Thanks to this passion, today I see the world with different eyes and every day I continue to look for special human beings’ stories to tell with my camera.

Untitled
Untitled
In September 2022, ASD Disabili Roma 2000 established a women’s team. Some women players train and play alongside the male team members as they wait for a national women’s blind football league to be organised by the Italian Federation.
Untitled
Untitled
Perhaps more than other team sports, the role of the coach is crucial in five-a-side blind football. The players have unconditional trust in the instructions and encouragement they receive from him.
Untitled
Untitled
Free-kicks take place in exactly the same way as they do in football for sighted players. The only exception is that before the kick, the kicking player listens to the guide’s instructions on the distance between the ball and the opponent’s goal, and on the position of the opponent’s ‘wall’.
Untitled
Untitled
Even in friendly matches, the tension and emotional involvement of the players and substitutes is palpable.
Untitled
Untitled
Each official match is officiated by two referees who consult each other over uncertain decisions and provide assistance to the players of both teams on the field.
Untitled
Untitled
As in all sports, tension is elevated when the stakes are high, and some refereeing decisions can lead to disputes, possibly resulting in expulsion from the game.
Untitled
Untitled
At the end of a training session or match, players remove the mask that offers them complete eye protection and equalises the level of blindness among all players.