Futsal

There are two versions of the invention of indoor football (futsal), both originating from the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). The most famous one says the sport was created in 1934 at the Montevideo headquarters, in Uruguay, by professor Juan Carlos Ceriani. The Brazilian version: it was the São Paulo branch of the association that gave the first touches, in 1940, to what would become known as futsal. For lack of free football fields to practice their ‘pelada’, young regulars of the São Paulo YMCA started using the basketball and hockey courts.

Article from the Diário Carioca newspaper, 08/12/1942. National Library Newspaper Archive

Image description: The image is a black-and-white newspaper, dated August 12, 1942, published in Diário Carioca. The main headline, "Indoor Football!!", stands out at the top. Below, there is information about an event promoted by the Associação Cristã de Moços. The text mentions the introduction of basketball and the creation of a new sport called "Indoor Futebol Clube" (Futebol de Salão). The game schedule is detailed, with matches set for different categories: minors, intermediates, mediums, adults, and majors.

Indoor soccer matches are played by five people on each side, on cement or wood-block courts, in two 20-minute halves. There is no offside rule, and some field soccer rules were adapted to give speed to the game, such as the sideline throw-in, which used to be taken with the hands and today is taken with the feet. The balls used to be made of granulated cork, sawdust, or vegetable fiber, but since they were too light, they began to be made in a smaller size and with heavier materials.

Women's futsal at the student games. Photo by Alberto Jacob Filho. Multi Rio Website

Image description: This is a photograph of women's futsal at the student games. The image shows four players on a futsal court. On the left side, there are two players wearing blue uniforms with white numbers. In front of them is a player in an orange uniform, holding the ball. In the background, there is another player in a blue uniform. The court floor is light blue, with white lines marking the playing areas.

The sport was recognized as an official discipline in Rio de Janeiro, where on July 28, 1954, the country's first official futsal association emerged, the Federação Metropolitana de Futebol de Salão (now the Federação de Futebol de Salão do Estado do Rio de Janeiro). Three years later, the then president of the Confederação Brasileira de Desportos (CBD), Sylvio Pacheco, created the Conselho Técnico de Assessores de Futebol de Salão.

Futsal quickly won the favor of Rio's social clubs, which were heavily frequented by the elite of that era. Maintenance was easier in indoor soccer, since the courts were smaller and didn't require the upkeep that grass demands. The sport became a kind of breeding ground that supplied — along with street ‘peladas’ — Rio's professional outdoor soccer teams. In the 1960s and early 1970s, when futsal was at its peak, clubs like Mello Esporte Clube, Mackenzie, Vila Isabel, and Carioca lent star players to Flamengo, Vasco, América, Fluminense, and Botafogo.

Most ended up returning to indoor soccer, as happened with Falcão, considered the best futsal player in the world. His fast, creative, and free-flowing style didn't adapt well to the size of the traditional soccer field. Ronaldo and Ronaldinho Gaúcho, on the other hand, took their first kicks on futsal courts and ended up becoming phenomenons on the fields.

Image description: This is a photograph of an athlete during an awards ceremony. The athlete is wearing a shirt with the "Olympikus" logo and the word "Brasil" repeated along the sleeves. He holds a colorful flower in his hands and has a gold medal hanging around his neck. The background shows a crowd of spectators in a stadium.

By 1965, the sport had already spread throughout South America, resulting in the creation of the South American Futsal Confederation, made up of Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Argentina and Brazil. At the same time, futsal competed with the ‘peladas’, pickup games that were even faster, more creative and freer. And, little by little, it became a way of domesticating the game, since it required order, discipline and uniforms – just like traditional football.

In the 1970s, Rio de Janeiro went through an economic crisis that shook the existence of social clubs, foreshadowing the end of Carioca futsal teams. States such as São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul kept the sport thriving in the country, investing in player development and the holding of championships. After being linked to FIFA in 1989, futsal began to have professionally organized tournaments, an aspect that allowed the sport to achieve worldwide visibility.