HISTORY OF FUTSAL

The origin of Futsal can be traced back to Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1930 when Juan Carlos Ceriani devised a five-a-side version of soccer for youth competition in YMCA's. The game is played on basketball-sized courts, both indoors and out, without the use of sidewalls.

 The term 'Futsal' is the international term used for the game. It is derived from the Spanish words for soccer, FUTbol and indoor, SALa.

 Once Ceriani got the ball rolling, Futsal gained rapid popularity throughout South America, particularly in Brazil. The skill developed in this game is visible in the world famous style the Brazilians display outdoors on the full-sized field. Pele, Zico, Socrates, Bebeto and other Brazilian superstars developed their skills playing Futsal. While Brazil continues to be the Futsal hub of the world, the game is now played under the auspices of FIFA all over the world.

The first international competition took place in 1965, when Paraguay won the first South American Cup. Six more South American Cups were held up to 1979, with Brazil winning all of them. Brazil continued its dominance with a victory in the first Pan American Cup in 1980 and won it again the next time it was played in 1984.

The first Futsal World Championship conducted under the auspices of FIFUSA (before its members integrated into FIFA in 1989) was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1982, with Brazil finishing in first place. The Brazilians repeated their success at the second World Championship in 1985 in Spain, but lost in the third World Championship in 1988 in Australia to Paraguay.

FIFA took over direct sponsorship of the event in 1989 and the first FIFA World Futsal Championship was held in Holland. Subsequent world championships have been held in 1992 (Hong Kong), 1996 (Spain) and 2000 (Guatemala).

In Europe, Futsal is a relative newcomer to UEFA’s footballing portfolio and the popularity of Futsal has culminated in the introduction of the European Futsal Championship. The inaugural championship culminated in a dramatic final in Granada, Spain, in February 1999, when Russia defeated Spain in a penalty shoot-out after a thrilling 3-3draw.

The next European Futsal Championship final round was held at the Luzhniki Sportshall in Moscow in February 2001 and eight teams initially set out in two groups. The group winners and runners-up qualified for the semi-finals, where Spain and Ukraine overcame Russia and Italy respectively.  Spain were crowned European champions, adding to their world title conquered a few weeks previously, after a hard fought 2-1 success over Ukraine in the final.

Italy staged the third edition of the UEFA event in 2003 and showed remarkable form to triumph. More than 6,000 fans flocked to the Palamaggio in Caserta to see Ukraine defeated 1-0 in the final.  Italy reached the semi-finals again in 2005, losing out to Russia, whilst Spain defeated the 2003 runners-up in the other semi-final.  Spain regained the trophy in the final, winning by 2-1 at the CEZ Arena in Ostrava.  Porto is set to host the 2007 tournament.

There is also a pan-european club tournament, the UEFA Futsal Cup.  This competition has been running for five years now and has also been dominated by Spain.  There have been three competition winners; two from Spain, who have both won twice and one from Belgium.