Gothia Cup 2026: From Different Corners of India to Sweden, Special Olympics Bharat Team Chases Historic Hat-Trick

New Delhi, July 11: Two titles in two years and now an opportunity to create history. Special Olympics Bharat football team is heading to Sweden aiming for a historic hat-trick at the Gothia Cup 2026, but assembling a team of athletes from different parts of the country has involved challenges far beyond the football pitch.

The Indian team was given a send-off at the Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi ahead of the tournament, scheduled to be held from July 12 to 18.

The athletes received an encouraging send-off from a distinguished gathering led by Jan Thesleff, Ambassador of Sweden to India; Ashish Sood, Cabinet Minister of Home, Education, Power and Urban Development, Government of NCT of Delhi; Sujeeth Pai, Director - Manufacturing Operations, India, Southeast Asia and Middle East (ISEAM), SKF India (Industrial) Limited; and representatives from Special Olympics Bharat and SKF.

Having won the Gothia Special Olympics Trophy in 2024 and successfully defended the title in 2025, the Indian team will now look to become the first team to win the championship three consecutive times when the tournament is held in Gothenburg.

Ahead of the team's departure, the coaching staff, management and representatives of SKF India (Industrial) spoke to myKhel about communication challenges, the extensive selection process and the broader vision behind supporting athletes with intellectual disabilities.

How Team India Overcome Communication Barriers

One of the biggest challenges for the coaching staff has been bringing together athletes from different states, linguistic backgrounds and with varying communication abilities.

Conventional verbal instructions cannot always be used while working with the athletes. Instead, eye contact, gestures, actions and repeated demonstrations become important tools for communicating tactical instructions.

"That is not easy. It is very tough," team's coach Onaciss said during a media interaction at the Embassy of Sweden. "We train the players to understand each other's movements and recognise situations on the football pitch without depending entirely on verbal communication."

"Whether it is a striker making a run, a teammate looking for a pass or a defender reacting to an opposition attack, the emphasis is on developing an understanding through eye contact and actions," Onaciss, who coached the team in the previous two editions as well, added further.

With players coming from different states and speaking different languages, football itself has become their common language.

How Was India's Gothia Cup 2026 Team Selected?

The journey to Gothenburg began with a national qualifying tournament held in Gwalior in April 2026. More than 150 athletes from 16 states participated in the selection process, with the initial assessment focussing on individual ability and technical skills.

Around 35 athletes were shortlisted before three training camps were organised to gradually reduce the squad.

The first camp helped the coaching staff assess where individual players would best fit into the team. The subsequent camps focussed on coordination, team chemistry and the ability to perform collectively.

The process eventually resulted in the selection of 10 athletes who will represent India in Sweden.

Playing Style Built Around Players' Strengths

The Indian management explained that the process of building the team begins by identifying the positions that need to be covered before assessing how well the players combine with their teammates.

"As a team sport, it's a collection of individuals who have their own strengths and weaknesses," Special Olympic Bharat's Prateek Talukdar explained.

The team's playing philosophy is developed by combining the strengths of the players with the tactical ideas of the coaching staff.

"We approach each opponent in a different way. Tactically, we set up the team based on the playing style of the opponent. But we do have a basic principle and playing philosophy," Talukdar added.

The Indian team is also promising an entertaining brand of football in Sweden. "This year, you can expect exciting football from the team. We have a very fluid-motion team."

Gothia Cup Part of a Bigger Journey for Athletes

Participation in the Gothia Cup is not intended to be the end of the road for the selected athletes. After returning to their respective states, the players can continue participating in state and national championships organised by Special Olympics Bharat, while opportunities also exist to represent India at other international competitions.

SKF India and Special Olympics Bharat are also exploring longer-term programmes where players who have represented the country can inspire and mentor the next generation.

SKF's Focus Goes Beyond Sports Sponsorship

Sujeeth Pai, Director - Manufacturing Operations, India, Southeast Asia and Middle East, SKF India (Industrial) Limited, explained that the company's involvement is driven by its broader focus on inclusion.

"The idea was inclusion, but sports is a great way to build that inclusion," Pai said. "So it's not coming from 'let's develop sports in general', but it's about developing inclusion in general, and that's where this fits in."

SKF supports India's participation at the Gothia Cup, while Special Olympics Bharat manages the sporting aspects, including player selection, training camps and the coaching setup.

Shashi Shetty, Head of CSR and Sustainability at SKF India (Industrial), stressed that the initiative is also aimed at helping athletes develop life skills and access meaningful opportunities beyond sport.

"We don't want it to be just a normal sport. We want them to learn life skills. We also want to enable employability for them and give them access to meaningful opportunities so that they live a fulfilling life," Shetty said.

Despite winning the previous two editions, Special Olympics Bharat management continued to bring new athletes into the programme as part of the objective to introduce football to more players.

That means the defending champions will head to Gothenburg with a new group carrying the expectations created by their predecessors. As the team boards the flight to Sweden, with some of these special athletes travelling abroad for the first time, SKF India, Special Olympics Bharat and their supporters will hope they enjoy the experience, create lifelong memories and, through their performances on the pitch, make the country proud.