History

The development of futsal is traced back to 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay, the same year the World Cup was held in the country. The credit for this is given to Juan Carlos Ceriani who wanted a version of football to be played at YMCAs both indoors and outdoors. Credit is also sometimes given to a similar form of football being developed in São Paulo, Brazil. These forms of football were quickly adopted around South America, and many of the continents greatest stars played futsal before migrating to full-size association football. The first common rules were reportedly published in Sao Paulo in 1936.

A governing body was created in 1971 to administer the game and its championships; this was the International Indoor Football Federation (FIFUSA, from the initials in both Portuguese and Spanish), which later became the Worldwide Futsal Association (AMF). FIFA took over control over the game in 1989 and continued the tournament in its name. New rules and amendments to previous rules were created by FIFA at this point, mainly to compromise the rules used in different countries. One of the most remarkable changes was the reduction of the ball weight, which made possible a faster play and, for the first time, to score goals with the head (though this is still difficult and uncommon).

FIFA's regulating of the game has led to increasing interest, and increased participation, in futsal. Many countries are attempting to promote futsal over the informal (and 'unofficial') form of five-a-side football.