“The matches take place in two halves of twenty-five minutes. The field measures 60 meters by 40 meters, the goals are five meters by 2.20 m. The field players, six in number, are amputated at the level of a leg, the goalkeeper at the level of an upper limb”.
Contacted by 20 minutesMaxime Ranglaret, 29, does not “let go of anything”. Amputated from the right leg when he was only 10 years old, after “bone cancer”, this resident of Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) is a “footeux”, a real one. And he wants to create a team for amputees in Auvergne. Unknown to the general public, the discipline (not recognized by the disabled sports federation) is struggling to develop in France, while some countries have been practicing it professionally for a while.
The young man – who also coaches “little able-bodied children, the U10s and U11s in Franc Rosier’s squirrel sports association” – multiplies calls in the local media, on France 3 or The mountainto “create a collective” and realize his dream.
It is forbidden to touch the ball with crutches
This OM supporter has been playing football since the age of 6 and simply wants to “practice his sport, rediscover the sensations” that it gives him, “and feel less different in society”. “We’re not just looking for boys. We want to create a team with a mixed vocation. The only constraint that is imposed is that the person be amputated from the leg or the arm. We stopped an age group of 20 to 45 years, ”he explains in his search for teammates.
And in practice? “We are in constant support on the leg, on the wrists and the shoulders. It’s the upper body that works”, he explains on France 3. It is forbidden to touch the ball with crutches or even the stump of the amputated leg. It’s considered anti-game, says the coach, who is determined to play his favorite sport.