Poland 4th in World Amputee Football World Cup

Poland plays Turkey in the battle for bronze at the World Amputee Football Cup in Culiacan, Mexico. Photo: Handout/ PAP

''Defeat at the hands of a giant of amputee football brings no shame on us,'' commented Mateusz Widlak, chairman of the Polish Amputee Football Association.

As Widlak noted, Turkey has 24 amputee football club teams, including 10 professional ones, a pool of 500 players and more than 100,000 euro per annum from the country's football association.

In Poland, the sport has only been practised for 3 years, and the first four proper clubs only appeared this year. At present there is a pool of 35 potential players.

''We can return to Poland proud and happy, although with two 0-1 losses in the semi-final and then in the run-off for bronze, there's a sense of regret,'' Widlak said.

Nevertheless, Widlak reflected that when the team debuted in the World Cup two years ago, Poland was ranked eleventh.

This year's world champions were the Russians, who defeated Angola 3-1 in the final. (nh)

Source: PAP