Futsal is played between two teams of five players, one of whom is the goalkeeper; in addition each team may have a number of substitutes. Unlike some other forms of indoor football, the field is delimited by lines, and not nets or boards which the ball may be played off. The ball used tends to be slightly heavier and smaller (size 3+) than football, and thus promotes better ball control skills as well as passes on the ground. Furthermore, the smaller play area forces players to improve their skills and decision making. Please read the Rules and Regulations for the Ontario Futsal Association.
The development of futsal is traced back to 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay, the same year the inaugural 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, and it was invented on basketball courts . These forms of football were quickly adopted around South America, and many of the continent's greatest stars played futsal before migrating to full-size association football. The first common rules were reportedly published in São Paulo in 1936.
A governing body was created in 1971 to administer the game and its championships; this was the International Indoor Football Fedreration (FIFUSA, from the initials in both Portuguese and Spanish), which later became the Worldwide Futsal Association (AMF). FIFA took over control of 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. One of the most remarkable changes was the reduction of the ball weight and increase in ball size (from a size 2 to 4), which made possible faster play and, for the first time, scoring goals with the head (though this is still difficult and uncommon).
