Indoor soccer

For the American football variant, see Six-man football. For other versions of association football played indoors, see Futsal and Five-a-side football.
Indoor soccer

An indoor soccer game played outdoors in Mexico. The referee has just awarded the red team a free kick.
Nicknames Indoor football
Characteristics
Contact Yes
Team members 5–6 per side (including goalkeeper)
Mixed gender Yes, separate competitions
Type Team sport, ball sport
Equipment Football
Venue Indoor soccer field
Presence
Olympic No
Paralympic No

Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, minifootball, fast football, floorball or showball) is a game derived from association football adapted for play in a walled indoor arena. Indoor soccer, as it is most often known in the United States and Canada, was originally developed in these two countries as a way to play football during the winter months, when snow would make outdoor play difficult. In those countries, areas such as hockey rinks or basketball courts are adapted for indoor soccer play. In other countries the game is played in either indoor or outdoor arenas surrounded by walls, and is referred to by different names (such as fast football (futbol rapido) in Mexico, showbol in South America, and indoor football (futbol indoor) in Spain).

Indoor soccer has different regulations from other versions of association football designed for indoor play, such as futsal and five-a-side football. Unlike futsal, which is played on ceramic surfaces, indoor soccer is played on synthetic turf. Indoor soccer courts are delimited by walls instead of lines, and there are no player throw-ins.

FIFA, the international body that oversees international association football competitions, does not sanction the synthetic turf version of indoor soccer, having developed its own code of indoor football (which they refer to as futsal).

Indoor soccer is most popular in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with several amateur, collegiate and professional leagues functioning. While internationally less popular than futsal, indoor soccer is also played at the league level in many countries outside North America. The World Minifootball Federation (WMF) is the governing body of indoor soccer at the international level, having replaced the International Fast Football Federation (FIFRA).

The term minifootball, which was originally coined in Europe, has been adopted by the WMF as a standard international name for the sport.

Indoor soccer around the world

Indoor soccer is played throughout the world. Currently, the international federation dedicated to promoting the sport is the World Minifootball Federation (WMF) based in the Czech Republic. The WMF replaced the International Fast Football Federation (FIFRA), which had been based in Mexico and later, the United States. There are also regional federations who govern the sport including: African Minifootball Federation (AMF), Asian Minifootball Confederation (AMC), Confederacion Panamericana de Minifutbol (CPM), European Minifootball Federation (EMF), Oceania Minifootball Federation (OMF).

During its existence, FIFRA organized several indoor soccer tournaments for national teams, including the Indoor Soccer World Championship. The only edition of this tournament took place in Mexico in 1997, with the host team winning the title.[1] No other indoor soccer world championship was held until 2015, when the WMF organized the first WMF World Cup in the United States. The first edition of the relaunched tournament was won by the USA.[2][3][4]

United States and Canada

Indoor soccer is a common sport in the United States and especially Canada, with both amateur and professional leagues. Due to the short season for outdoor soccer in Canada and the Northern United States, and the ubiquity of arenas built for ice hockey and basketball which can easily be converted to indoor soccer (similar reasons as to why indoor lacrosse is more popular in Canada, field lacrosse in the United States). It is especially popular in Northern Canada due to the often unplayable outdoor conditions and its appearance in the Arctic Winter Games.[5]

Mexico

Indoor soccer or futbol rapido has also become a popular sport in Mexico, being included as part of the Universiada (University National Games) and the CONADEIP (Private School Tournament), in which university school teams from all over Mexico compete. In Mexico, "indoor" soccer fields are frequently built outdoors (though indoor courts are also used in some tournaments).

South America

Indoor soccer is known in Brazil as showbol, with several current regional leagues. Formal national leagues have also formed in Bolivia, Colombia, Uruguay, Ecuador and Peru.

Europe

Indoor soccer is also played in several European countries. In the United Kingdom, Masters Football is the most well-known competition. Tournaments among Masters teams (consisting of veteran former players from professional 11-a-side teams from each country) are regularly played. In Spain, some over-30 ex-professionals represent their clubs in the Liga Fertiberia which plays a five-a-side variant.

European Minifootball Federation

There is a European indoor soccer federation known as the European Minifootball Federation (EMF).[6] EMF organize the European Minifootball Championship (miniEURO) every year and in recent years countries have established official national minifootball associations to help them further organize and develop it. EMF organize variations of six-a-side football and this could come in different shapes and sizes from a large custom-built facility with multiple pitches or even an 11-a-side pitch temporarily split into smaller pitches. This is not to be confused with the term used in Russia and some other former Soviet countries, where the term mini-football is used to describe futsal.

Rules

Diagram of a possible North American indoor soccer field

Rules vary between governing bodies, but some of the nearly universal rule deviations from association football include:

Beyond these common threads, the sport is structured according to the idiosyncrasies of individual leagues. Most of these rules are adopted from other arena sports like ice hockey. Below is a listing of some of the more common ones:

Leagues

Europe

North America

South America

Former

See also

References

  1. http://futbolweb.mx.tripod.com/
  2. "PASL Commissioner Kevin Milliken Talks Ontario Fury Debut, First World Cup". PASL. 12 November 2013.
  3. "Gamesheet: Mexico vs USA". WMF World Cup. 29 March 2015.
  4. "USA Win Inaugural WMF World Cup". Indoor Soccer News. 29 March 2015.
  5. "Indoor Soccer 101".
  6. "EMF - European Minifootball Federation". eurominifootball.com. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  7. Quarstad, Brian. "USL Announces Merger with Major Indoor Soccer League". insidemnsoccer.com. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
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