Futsal

Lore & Background

Futsal started in 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay, when Juan Carlos Ceriani created a version of indoor football for YMCAs. Originally developed for basketball courts, a rule book was published in September 1933. Ceriani combined principles from association football with rules from basketball (five players per team, 40 active minutes), water polo (goalkeeping rules), hockey (substitution rules), and handball (field and goal sizes). The YMCA spread the game quickly throughout South America. In 1956, rules were modified in São Paulo, Brazil, to allow seniors to compete, and a book of 'Brazilian Indoor Football Rules' was published, adopted by other South American countries.

In 1965, the South American Futsal Confederation was created, comprising Uruguay, Peru, Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. The term 'futsal' may have been coined by a Brazilian journalist in the 1960s, though it did not come into widespread use until the 1980s. A dispute between FIFA and FIFUSA (now the World Futsal Association) over the use of the word 'football' led FIFUSA to use the term futsal during its 1985 World Championship in Madrid. FIFA adopted the term in the 1990s, and it became the officially accepted name. The highest-attended futsal match took place on 7 September 2014 at the Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasília, with 56,483 spectators watching Brazil face Argentina.

Reader's Guide

Futsal's significance lies in its role as a developmental tool for association football players, due to its emphasis on ball control and passing in small spaces. The sport is played worldwide, with over 30 million players as of 2024, according to FIFA. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game of association football, but with a smaller, heavier ball and a hardcourt surface. Futsal is governed by two main bodies: FIFA and the World Futsal Association (AMF), the latter emerging from the reorganization of FIFUSA in late 2002. The sport's accessibility and lower physical requirements have made it an essential resource for coaches. In December 2022, FIFA announced the women's version of the FIFA Futsal World Cup, with the inaugural edition held in the Philippines in 2025. Futsal remains most popular in South America and the Iberian Peninsula, where professional teams are common, while elsewhere it is primarily amateur or recreational.

Did You Know?

• Futsal was created in 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay, by physical education teacher Juan Carlos Ceriani.
• The term 'futsal' may have been coined by a Brazilian journalist in the 1960s, but it did not come into widespread use until the 1980s.
• The highest-attended futsal match in history was on 7 September 2014 at the Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasília, with 56,483 spectators.
• Futsal is played with a smaller and heavier ball than association football, and there is no offside rule.