Futsal in Brazil

Futsal in Brazil is governed by the Brazilian Futsal Confederation. Although it is not the most popular sport in the country, it is widely practiced.

History

Futsal was developed in Brazil and Uruguay around the same time, in 1934 in Uruguay and in the 1940s in Brazil.cite web | title = Histórico | url=http://www.cbfs.com.br/novo/historico.asp | accessdate = 2007-10-20 | language = Portuguese | publisher=Confederação Brasileira de Futebol de Salão ] In Brazil the sport was developed by the Young Men's Christian Association of São Paulo due to the lack of available football fields. Basketball courts and hockey posts were used to practice the sport.cite web | title = História do Futsal | url=http://futsal.terra.com.br/historia.asp | accessdate = 2007-10-20 | language = Portuguese | publisher=Futsal Paulista ]

In the 1950s, the first state futsal federations were founded, starting with the Federação Metropolitana de Futebol de Salão ("Metropolitan Futsal Federation"), of Rio de Janeiro state, founded on July 28, 1954, and currently known as Federação de Futebol de Salão do Estado do Rio de Janeiro ("Rio de Janeiro State Futsal Federation"), followed by the state federations of Minas Gerais, also founded in 1954, São Paulo, in 1955, Ceará, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia in 1956, and several others in the subsequent years.

On June 15, 1979, the Brazilian Futsal Confederation was founded, in Rio de Janeiro, after the Brazilian Sports Confederation (CBD), which was the responsible for the administration of several sports, folded. The founding states were Acre, Alagoas, Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Distrito Federal, Espirito Santo, Goiás, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, and Sergipe. On August 27 of that year, Aécio de Borba Vasconcelos was elected as the organization's first president, and Fortaleza was chosen as its headquarters.cite web | title = História da Confederação Brasileira de Futebol de Salão - CBFS | url=http://futsal.terra.com.br/historia_cbfs.asp | accessdate = 2007-10-20 | language = Portuguese | publisher=Futsal Paulista ]

National team

The Brazilian national team is very successful, winning several titles, such as the FIFA Futsal World Championship, the South American Futsal Championship, the Grand Prix de Futsal, and the Futsal Mundialito. Brazil also won the first edition of the sport at the Pan American Games, in 2007.

Domestic competitions

There are two national competitions, which are the Liga Futsal, and the Taça Brasil de Futsal. Liga Futsal started in 1996,cite web | title = Só zebra gigante tira o ouro do Brasil | url=http://br.esportes.yahoo.com/pan2007/modalidades/futsal/brasil/ | accessdate = 2007-10-20 | language = Portuguese | publisher=Yahoo! Pan 2007 - Futsal ] while Taça Brasil de Futsal is the oldest national futsal competition in Brazil, and started in 1968.cite web | title = A Taça Brasil, sinônimo de Malwee | url=http://www.falcao12.com.br/new_site/malwee.htm | accessdate = 2007-10-20 | language = Portuguese | publisher=Falcão 12 ] Also, each state federation organizes its own state championship.

ee also

* List of futsal clubs in Brazil

References

External links

*pt icon [http://www.cbfs.com.br/novo/index.asp Confederação Brasileira de Futebol de Salão]