| A soccer (football) variant designed for indoor play. Invented in Uruguay in 1930 and became popular in South America in the 30's. The name comes from
the Spanish for soccer (FUTbal) and indoor (SALa).
The FIFA Futsal World
Championship is held every four years; Spain won the
2000 Championship held in Guatemala.
Futsal is usually played on basketball courts with no
sidewalls; if the ball leaves play it is kicked in, instead
of soccer's throw-in. There are four players to a side
plus one goalie. It uses a smaller ball (#4 vs. #5 in soccer), and unlimited substitutions are allowed. |