India had never fielded a blind football team that could trouble the world’s best. Sunil Mathew built one anyway — from a 20-minute demo game into teams now ranked in the global top five, on a fraction of the funding of the nations they beat.
Sunil — Founder & Head Coach of the Indian Blind Football Federation — takes us inside a sport played entirely without sight: four totally-blind outfield players, a sighted keeper, a ball with a bell inside, and three voices guiding from keeper, coach and goal-guide. He shares the moments that made the mission: a player offered surgery to restore his sight who turned it down because “I cannot play football without this,” a 13-year-old who said “I will fight for you, I will die for you” before scoring at the Women’s World Cup, and a boy who fell from a jackfruit tree and now captains India with a road named after him in his village.
It’s also a clear-eyed look at the work: ~15 million visually impaired Indians, 75–80% of that blindness preventable, no government funding, and a coach who refuses to take a salary — plus how India went from importing footballs from England to manufacturing them in Jalandhar, and Psychetica, the assistive-tech device Sunil is building to catch a fall within the golden hour.
Sunil J. Mathew’s Highlights:
→ Founder & Head Coach of the Indian Blind Football Federation (IBFF), Kochi
→ Built India’s blind football teams from scratch to a global top-five ranking — with no government funding
→ Drew Germany and beat Austria at the blind Women’s World Cup; beat Japan 1–0 in the snow
→ Took India from importing footballs from England to manufacturing them in Jalandhar (Make in India)