History of Futsal

Origins of Futsal

Futsal originated in the South American countries of Uruguay and Brazil where, in the 1930’s, two versions of small-sided football were being played in the cities of Montevideo and Sao Paulo respectively. In Brazil, a version began to develop on the streets of Sao Paulo, leading to the publishing of the first rules of the game in 1936 from the country that would soon become the masters of the game. The skills that were born on the Futsal pitch soon became evident in the 11-a-side game with Pele, Maradona, Romario and Zico who all played Futsal in the early stages of their development.

Evolution of Futsal

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 officially coined in 1989 as part of the FIFA’s marketing strategy to promote the game throughout the world and develop the sport.

Under FIFA’s control, new rules and other changes were adopted which improved the technical aspects of the game for players and spectators.  The ball was made slightly larger (increased to a size 4) but still weighted to reduce bounce. Linesmen were replaced with a second referee and unlimited substitutions were introduced to improve the dynamics of the game.

FIFA’s relationships with its member associations enabled more and more countries to gain access to Futsal knowledge and resources. This was a major factor in the increase in the number of participating nations in the fourth FIFA world championships held in Guatemala City in 2000, in which Spain ended the dominance of Brazil in world Futsal beating them in the final. Finally Futsal could begin to establish itself on the European stage.

Brazil versus Argentina – Futsal Game

Futsal in the World

Nowadays Futsal is a sport 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, futsal was introduced by Mrs. Dawn Gilligan in 1971 during winter when outdoor grounds were closed for long periods of time due to rain. 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 affiliated 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.

From its humble beginnings, futsal has developed significantly in popularity and stature. The popularity of the sport has continued to grow and was at an all time high in 2006, due to the Australian national team’s solid performance at the 2006 World Cup. Since then, futsal has quickly established itself as one of Australia’s most popular sports. 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.

Futsal World Rankings

As of September 21, 2009 the top 20 teams are:

#	Team
1	Brazil
2	Spain
3	Italy
4	Portugal
5	Russia
6	Iran
7	Argentina
8	Ukraine
9	Japan
10	Paraguay
11	Serbia
12	Belarus
13	Thailand
14	Romania
15	Czech Republic
16	Slovakia	Brazilian National Team – 2009 Futsal World Champions
17	Slovenia
18	Belgium
19	Netherlands
20	United States