Picture: Players and coaches at South Africa’s first accredited blind football coaching workshop, hosted by Corinthians Africa with CATHSSETA in Johannesburg South, August 2026.
Corinthians Africa, SAFA and Blind SA are growing a national league for visually impaired footballers, with clubs travelling to Johannesburg from as far as Limpopo.
JOHANNESBURG, November 2026. A few years ago, two visually impaired children asked Mlungisi “Coach Jack” Msibi if they could play football. He didn’t know how they could. Today he runs South Africa’s first Blind Football League, built by Johannesburg South youth organisation Corinthians Africa with the South African Football Association (SAFA) and Blind SA.
Blind football is a five-a-side Paralympic sport. Outfield players wear eyeshades and follow a ball with a rattle inside it, guided by their goalkeeper and coaches.
Msibi started his programme with the Johannesburg Society for the Blind. In 2024 he became South Africa’s first national blind football coach and took the team to the BRICS International Blind Football Tournament in Russia. On debut, the squad won Coach of the Tournament, Team of the Tournament and Player of the Tournament.
The league started in 2025, and match days now run at venues across Johannesburg. In July and August 2026, Corinthians Africa and CATHSSETA hosted South Africa’s first accredited blind football coaching workshop. The course introduced a Braille edition of the IBSA Blind Football Coaching Manual and trained Jonas Ndlovu as the country’s first blind facilitator. In September, Laureus World Sports Academy chairman Sean Fitzpatrick put on a blindfold and played at the Corinthians Africa grounds in La Rochelle.
“People told me it was crazy. But when you see a blind player score from the sound of the ball and the voice of a teammate, you understand that the only thing missing was opportunity. We are not doing charity. We are building a sport,” said Msibi.
The next steps are provincial league structures, teams for women and girls, referee and coach training, and a wheelchair-accessible multipurpose court in Johannesburg South.
“We want blind football in every province and a South African team that competes on the world stage, all the way to the Paralympics. We’re calling on corporate partners to help us get there,” said Msibi.
