The game of futsal is easy to play – like normal 11-a-side football – it’s massive all over the world. Modern players like Ronaldinho, Robinho, Ronaldo, Deco, Fabregas and older players like Maradona, Pele and Zidane have attributed Futsal to helping them develop their game.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GAME
The origins of futsal can be traced back to Uruguay in 1930, where, amid the euphoria that greeted the country’s victory at the inaugural FIFA World Cup(tm) on home soil, there was a football being kicked on every street corner in the capital Montevideo. Juan Carlos Ceriani, an Argentinian physical education instructor living there at the time observed many youngsters practising football on basketball courts owing to the shortage of football pitches. It was there and then that the idea for a five-a-side variation came about. Borrowing from the rules of water polo, handball and basketball, Ceriani drew up the original rules of the game, which were quickly to be adopted across South America. In 1965 the Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol de Salon (South American Futsal Confederation) was formed, consisting of Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Argentina and Brazil, the latter having quickly developed into a hotbed for the sport.
Futsal crossed the Atlantic to Europe along with the many Spanish and Portuguese immigrants returning from South America at that time. The continued growth in the sport then led to the foundation of FIFUSA, the Federacion Internacional de Futbol de Salon (International Futsal Federation), comprising of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal and Uruguay. In late 1985, before the sport had the kind of appeal it has today, Joseph S. Blatter, then FIFA General Secretary, and Joao Havelange, FIFA’s then President, decided jointly to incorporate futsal into the global football family. The FIFA Futsal World Cup is now the fourth longest-running FIFA tournament and has been won by great football nations including Brazil and Spain. There are a number of international competitions and professional leagues played throughout the world including the UEFA Futsal cup, which along with the Futsal world cup is extensively televised.
Today, Futsal is a firmly established part of the football firmament and, with over two million registered players (men and women) worldwide, has been one of the fastest growing sports in recent times – now played extensively throughout Europe and the other world continents. With the game’s potential popularity truly limitless, it is sure to help football achieve its social goals right across the globe.
Phoenix Sports Academy offer a range of Futsal Coaching courses for boys and girls of mixed ability. Futsal Coaching –
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