Origin of the sport
Futsal is the abbreviation of the phrase Futebol de Salao (Portuguese) or Futbol
Sala (Spanish). It means soccer in a large room. The name Futsal was adopted
officially in 1989 as part of the FIFA’s marketing strategy to promote the game
throughout the world and develop the sport.
Different forms of indoor soccer have been recorded as early as 1831 in Canada
when people playing soccer were forced to play inside due to either rain or
cold. The origin of modern Futsal has two versions. One version claims that the
first rules book was written in 1933 by a coach from Uruguay named Juan Carlos
Ceriari. The second version says that the sport was first played socially by a
group of friends from Sao Paulo at the end of 1930 and the first rules book was
published in 1936 in a physical education magazine from Brazil (Fonseca, 1997).
Apart from the controversy of the origin of the sport, it is known that the
sport was developed in Brazil and then spread to the 7 continents.
Evolution of the rules
The Futsal rules have been modified several times. The number of players have
changed from 7 to 5, the goal size form 4m x 2m to 3m x 2m and the weight of the
ball reached almost 1 kg before coming to 390 to 430 grams. Players were not
allowed to score from inside the penalty area. This rule was changed in 1990
when the offside rule was abolished as well.
In 1971 the Federacao International de Salao (FIFUSA) was created. FIFA has
unsuccessfully tried to take over the sport, thus creating “5 a side soccer” to
fight FIFUSA. Finally in 1989 most of the countries agreed to combine the sports
and it was given the name Futsal to represent all indoor soccer and five-a-side
foolball games. Since then, there has been acceleration on the modifications of
the rules due to FIFA’s policy to make the rules universal. In 1994 the throw in
was replaced by the kick in, the penalty area changed from 4 to 6 metres and the
keepers were allowed to play outside the “D”. FIFA aimed to make the sport
exciting for players and supporters and they were extremely successful in their
task.
Futsal and soccer
As the Futsal ball has low bounce qualities it spends much more time on the
floor which is excellent for development of skills and ball control. The smaller
area in which the game is played demands quick decision making, movements off
the ball and intensity.
Because of these characteristics, soccer coaches are starting to run Futsal
sessions for juniors and even professional soccer teams. Famouse professional
soccer players like Ronaldo, Juninho, Maradona, Rivelino and even the great Pele
have already declared they played Futsal in their childhood.
Compared to soccer, Futsal demands more versatile players. The positions in
Futsal are goalkeeper, pivot (the main defender), right flank, left flank and
target (the main attacker). Despite the main role of each position, players have
to perform different roles in a game because of the quick transition between
attack and defense.
Futsal in as sport in its own right and if we compare it with other sports we
will realize that its practice is really safe because slide tackling is not
allowed. As these is limited player in the air, which causes jumping and
bounding, there is less stress on the knees and ankles.
Futsal in the world
Nowadays Futsal is a sporty played in more than 60 countries with professional
leagues being played in many countries including Brazil, Spain, Italy, Portugal,
Belgium, USA and Russia. FIFA has organized four world cups: Holand/1989, Hong
Kong/1992, Spain/1996 and Guatemala/2000.
FIFA has been injecting a lot of effort to develop Futsal around the world. As
Futsal is such a dynamic sport, the directors of this powerful organization
preview a huge popularity for the sport. They are dedicating special attention
to legitimize it as an Olympic Sport.
Futsal in Australia
In Australia, indoor soccer was introduced by Mrs. Dawn Gilligan in 1971, during
a particularly wet winter when outdoor grounds were closed for long periods of
time. The Revesby YMCA in Sydney was the first place where it was played and
from there it spread to the others YMCA’s.
In 1977 the Australian Indoor Soccer Association was created. In 1979 they
affliated with FIFUSA and started to play with the official rules of futbol sala,
one of the original forms of Futsal.
The peak of indoor soccer in Australia occurred in the 80s with a televised
National League and the 1988 FIFUSA World Cup in Melbourne. When in 1989 FIFA
took over the sport and baptized it as Futsal, the Australian Indoor Soccer
Association changed its name to Australian Futsal Association.
Australia is one of the few countries in the world that has participated in all
of the world cups and it is estimated to have 18,000 registered players and
120,000 social participants in Futsal competitions all over the country.