From October 30 to November 2, the All-Russian football competitions for people with disabilities and special needs, "Steel Will," organized by the Russian Football Union (RFU) with the support of FONBET and the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, took place in Sochi, on the federal territory "Sirius".
Over 700 participants from 26 regions of Russia took part in the final stage of the tournament.
The competitions were held in seven disciplines:
- Football for individuals with cerebral palsy (men, boys);
- Amputee football (men, "League of Heroes");
- Deaf football (women, boys);
- Futsal for individuals with intellectual impairments (men, boys);
- Blind futsal (B1; men, women, boys);
- Football for persons with locomotor disabilities in electric wheelchairs (mixed teams);
- Transplant football (football for individuals with transplanted organs; men, women).
The matches were held on the football fields of the sports block of the "Barkhatnye Sezony" hotel.
The competitions were preceded by an opening ceremony, attended by Elena Shmeleva, Chairperson of the Council of the federal territory "Sirius", Head of the "Talent and Success" Educational Foundation; Dmitry Plishkin, Head of the Administration of the federal territory "Sirius"; Ivan Potehin, President of the All-Russian Federation of Football for Individuals with Cerebral Palsy, Deputy Head of the Apparatus of the Russian Paralympic Committee; Pavel Mushikhin, Head of Projects for the DobroFON charitable program of FONBET; Edams Sklyar, Captain of the media football team 2Drots; Kirill Korovkin, Deputy General Director of FC "Sochi"; Dmitry Sychev, former Russian national team player, member of the RFU Social Responsibility Committee; and Alexey Smertin, Director of the RFU Department for Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility, former captain of the Russian national football team.
Traditionally, a gala match was organized between teams from the RFU, the Administration of the federal territory "Sirius", and the Administration of PFC "Sochi", featuring former Russian national team footballers Dmitry Sychev and Alexey Smertin, and media footballers from the 2Drots team Ed, Frol, Loginov.
In the deaf football discipline, the following teams competed:
Boys: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara Oblast, and Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.
Women: St. Petersburg, Ulyanovsk Oblast, and Voronezh Oblast.
Results for the boys:
Moscow 3-2 St. Petersburg
Moscow 1-0 Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
St. Petersburg 3-1 Samara Oblast
Samara Oblast 2-2 Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Samara Oblast 0-1 Moscow
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast 0-2 St. Petersburg
The women played matches in two rounds:
Ulyanovsk Oblast 6-2 Voronezh Oblast
Voronezh Oblast 3-1 Ulyanovsk Oblast
St. Petersburg 2-0 Ulyanovsk Oblast
Ulyanovsk Oblast 0-5 St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg 7-1 Voronezh Oblast
Voronezh Oblast 0-5 St. Petersburg
RESULTS
Boys:
1st place - Moscow
2nd place - St. Petersburg
3rd place - Samara Oblast
Women:
1st place - St. Petersburg
2nd place - Ulyanovsk Oblast
3rd place - Voronezh Oblast
The prize for the best player among boys (deaf football) was awarded to Artyom Grushko (Moscow). The best player among women was Aigul Talipova (St. Petersburg).
FOR REFERENCE: "Steel Will" is the first and largest tournament in the world to unite football players across so many disability categories. The competition not only popularizes football among people with disabilities but also serves as an important means of social and physical rehabilitation, integrating football players with disabilities into modern society. "Steel Will" festivals and competitions have been held since 2022; in 2024, their participants numbered over three thousand people.
In 2025, "Steel Will" is being held in the format of a festival and three stages of All-Russian competitions. The festival took place in April on the federal territory "Sirius" with over 700 participants. The first stage of the competitions was held in Nizhny Tagil, the second – in September in Samara, and the final stage will take place at the end of October on the federal territory "Sirius". The "Steel Will" festival and competitions are held with the support of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation.
Text: Nurlan Tazhigulov, RFU
Photo: Media Bank of the Russian Football Union, Roman Gorchakov, Vladimir Kuznetsov
Translation: Daria Kudelina
