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Futsal is the indoor version of association football (soccer) that is officially sanctioned by football's international governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Its name is derived from the Portuguese futebol de salão, which means roughly room soccer (salão means "large room").

Futsal is played between two teams of 5 players, one of which is the goalkeeper; in addition each team may have a number of substitutes. Unlike some other forms of indoor football, the field is delimited by lines, and not nets or boards which the ball may be played off.

Other forms of indoor football games, which are played by somewhat different rules, exist and may be referred to as indoor football, five-a-side football or indoor soccer. Those games predate the formulation of official rules of futsal.

History of Futsal

The development of futsal is traced back to 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay, the same year the World Cup was held in the country. The credit for this is given to Juan Carlos Ceriani who wanted a version of football to be played at YMCAs both indoors and outdoors. Credit is also sometimes given to a similar form of football being developed in São Paulo, Brazil. These forms of football were quickly adopted around South America, and many of the continents greatest stars played futsal before migrating to full-size association football. The first common rules were reportedly published in Sao Paulo in 1936.

A governing body was created in 1971 to administer the game and its championships; this was the International Indoor Football Federation (FIFUSA, from the initials in both Portuguese and Spanish), which later became the Worldwide Futsal Association (AMF). FIFA took over control over the game in 1989 and continued the tournament in its name. New rules and amendments to previous rules were created by FIFA at this point. One of the most remarkable changes was the reduction of the ball weight, which made possible a faster play and, for the first time, to score goals with the head (though this is still difficult and uncommon).

FIFA's regulating of the game has led to increasing interest, and increased participation, in futsal. Many countries are attempting to promote futsal over the informal (and 'unofficial') form of five-a-side football.

Major international competitions

The FIFA Futsal World Cup is contested by 16 teams and has been held five times. The list of hosts and winners is as follows:

• 1989 (in Rotterdam, Netherlands): won by Brazil,
• 1992 (in Hong Kong): won by Brazil,
• 1996 (in Barcelona, Spain): won by Brazil,
• 2000 (in Guatemala): won by Spain,
• 2004 (in Taiwan): won by Spain.

External links

• Futsalplanet
• http://www.uefa.com/Competitions/FUTSAL/CompetitionInfo/index,newsId=4320.html - UEFA History of Futsal
• http://www.thefa.com/Grassroots/SmallSidedFootball/Futsal/ - FA section on futsal
• http://www.gofutsal.com/

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