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.