X Pro Futsal
Edelmar Easley
Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt like a basketball court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football.[1]
Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is the goalkeeper. Unlimited substitutions are permitted. Unlike some other forms of indoor football, it is played on a hard court surface marked by lines; walls or boards are not used. It is played with a smaller, harder, lower-bounce ball than association football.[2] The surface, ball and rules favour ball control and passing in small spaces.[3][4]
Originally developed for basketball courts,[7] a rule book for the new sport was published in September 1933. Association football was already highly popular in the country, and after Uruguay won the 1930 World Cup and gold medals in the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics, it attracted even more practitioners. Ceriani's goal was to create a team game similar to football that could be played indoors or outdoors.
The YMCA spread the game quickly throughout South America. It was easily played by everyone, everywhere, and in any weather condition, helping players of other sports stay in shape all year round. These reasons convinced Joo Lotufo, a Brazilian, to bring the game to his country and adapt it to the needs of physical education.
Initially, the rules were not uniform. In 1956, the rules were modified by Habib Maphuz and Luiz Gonzaga de Oliveira Fernandes within the YMCA of So Paulo, Brazil, to allow seniors to compete. Luiz de Oliveira wrote the Book of Rules of Futsal in 1956, then adopted also at the international level.
Shortly after, a tournament was organized. It attracted some interest in South American media, which regularly began to follow futsal. In particular, it was the Brazilian journalist Jos Antnio Inglz who passionately contributed to the rapid spread of the game, as well as being credited as the man who coined the name "futsal".[8]
Today, futsal is a very popular global sport, with one source estimating 12 million players across the world.[10] Due to its easy setup, enhanced accessibility, and lower physical requirements, futsal has become an essential resource for coaches aiming to develop players.[11]
The two most important governing bodies of futsal are the Asociacin Mundial de Ftsal (AMF) and Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). AMF is the successor organization to the original governing body. FIFA later took an interest in futsal. However, talks between FIFA and AMF to reconcile governance were not successful. FIFA organizes its own separate competitions.
The International Futsal Alliance (IFA) is a partnership of countries formed to offer high quality futsal tournaments throughout the world. It sees itself as ancillary rather than competing with FIFA. Its membership spans countries from North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Several tournaments have been organized under the auspices of IFA, including a world cup for men held in 2019 and one for women held in 2017.[12]
There are currently two governing bodies: Asociacin Mundial de Ftsal (AMF) and Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) which are responsible for maintaining and regulating the official rules of their respective versions of futsal.
FIFA publishes its futsal rules as the 'Laws of the Game', in which each of the 17 'laws' is a thematically related collection of individual regulations. The laws define all aspects of the game, including which may be changed to suit local competitions and leagues.[13]
Many of the laws are similar or identical to those found in association football, or reference association football in their absence (such as a section noting that there is no offside infraction in futsal). These rules are subjective and differ from tournament to tournament.
There are five players on the field on each team, one of whom is the goalkeeper. The maximum number of substitutes allowed is nine (FIFA change 2012), with unlimited substitutions during the match. Substitutes can come on even when the ball is in play but the player coming off must leave the field before the substitute can enter the playing field.[18] If a team has or is reduced to fewer than three players remaining, the match is abandoned and counted as a loss for the team with the lack of players.[19]
The kit is made up of a jersey or shirt with sleeves, shorts, socks, shinguards made out of metal, plastic or foam, and shoes with rubber soles. The goalkeeper is allowed to wear long trousers and a different coloured kit to distinguish themself from the other players on the team and the referee. The goalkeeper is also allowed to wear elbow pads because the surface is about as hard as a tennis court or basketball court. Jewellery is not allowed, nor are other items that could be dangerous to the player wearing the item or to other active participants.[20]
The match is controlled by the referee, who enforces the Laws of the Game, and the first referee is the only one who can legally abandon the match because of interference from outside the field. This referee is assisted by a second referee who typically watches over the goal lines or assists the primary referee with calls on fouls or plays. The decisions made by the referees are final and can only be changed if the referees think it is necessary and play has not restarted.[21] There is also a third referee and a timekeeper who are provided with equipment to keep a record of fouls in the match. In the event of injury to the second referee, the third referee will replace the second referee.[22]
A rectangular goal is positioned at the middle of each goal line. The inner edges of the vertical goal posts must be 3 m (9.8 ft) apart, and the lower edge of the horizontal crossbar supported by the goal posts must be 2 m (6.6 ft) above the ground. Nets made of hemp, jute or nylon are attached to the back of the goalposts and crossbar. The lower part of the nets is attached to curved tubing or another suitable means of support. The depth of the goal is 80 cm (31 in) at the top and 1 m (3.3 ft) at the bottom.[25]
In front of each goal is an area known as the penalty area. This area is created by drawing quarter-circles with a 6 m (20 ft) radius from the goal line, centered on the goalposts. The upper part of each quarter-circle is then joined by a 3.16 m (10.4 ft) line running parallel to the goal line between the goalposts. The line marking the edge of the penalty area is known as the penalty area line.[26] The penalty area marks where the goalkeeper is allowed to touch the ball with hands. The penalty mark is six metres from the goal line when it reaches the middle of the goalposts. The second penalty mark is 10 metres (33 ft) from the goal line when it reaches the middle of the goalposts. A penalty kick from the penalty spot is awarded if a player commits a foul inside the penalty area.[27] The second penalty spot is used if a player commits their team's sixth foul in the opposing team's half or in their own half in the area bordered by the halfway line and an imaginary line parallel to the halfway line passing through the second penalty mark; the free kick is taken from the second penalty mark.[28]
A standard match consists of two equal periods of 20 minutes. The length of either half is extended to allow penalty kicks to be taken or a direct free kick to be taken against a team that has committed more than five fouls. The interval between the two halves cannot exceed 15 minutes.[29]
In some competitions, the game cannot end in a draw, so away goals, extra time and kicks from the penalty mark are the three methods for determining the winner after a match has been drawn. Away goals mean that if the team's score is level after playing one home and one away game, the team which has scored more away goals wins. Extra time consists of two periods of five minutes. If no winner is produced after these methods, three kicks from the penalty mark are taken, and the team that has scored the most wins. If it is not decided after three kicks from the penalty mark, it continues to go on with one extra kick from the penalty mark to each team at a time until one of them has scored more goals than the other. Unlike extra time, the goals scored in a shoot-out do not count towards the goals scored throughout the match.[30]
At the beginning of the match, a coin toss is used to decide who will start the match. A kick-off is used to signal the start of play and is used at the start of the second half and any periods of extra time. It is also used after a goal has been scored, with the other team starting the play.[31] After a temporary stoppage for any reason not mentioned in the Laws of the Game, the referee will drop the ball where the play was stopped, provided that, before the stoppage, the ball was in play and had not crossed either the touch lines or goal lines.[32]
If the ball goes over the goal line or touchline, hits the ceiling, or the play is stopped by the referee, the ball is out of play. If it hits the ceiling of an indoor arena, play is restarted with a kick-in to the opponents of the team that last touched the ball, under the place where it hit the ceiling.[24]
Unlike association football, there is no offside in futsal. Under the Futsal Laws of the Game, Law 11 references offside as it does in association football, but only says that there is no offside in futsal.[33]
A direct free kick can be awarded to the opposing team if a player succeeds or attempts to kick or trip an opponent, jumps, charges or pushes an opponent, or strikes or attempts to strike an opponent. Holding, touching or spitting at an opponent are offenses that are worthy of a direct free kick, as are sliding in to play the ball while an opponent is playing it or carrying, striking or throwing the ball (except the goalkeeper).
These are all accumulated fouls. After five accumulated fouls in a half, the sixth accumulated foul and beyond result in a direct kick from the penalty mark where members of both teams may not make a wall prior to the kick.
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