Futsal in Spain
Futsal ( Spanish : fútbol sala ), a variant of indoor football , isa popular sport for the general publicin Spain . At club level, a separate professional league, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Sala (LNFS) , has been operatedsince 1989. The top division, called División de Honor , has 16 teams. The championship is considered to be the world's strongest in futsal. The Spain national futsal team is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation , and is equipped with a total of seven titles at the European Futsal Championship of UEFA , as well as two successes in FIFA - Futsal World Cup , one of the most successful.
history
Originally from South America, futsal began to take hold in Spain in 1972 when the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) began practicing it in the country. Shortly thereafter, two popular journalists, namely Juan Manuel Gozalo and José María García , got involved in the sport and founded two clubs: Unión Sport and Interviú / Hora 25 , the latter over time becoming the most successful club in Spain and Europe. The most important step in the rise of futsal, however, took place in the summer of 1989 when the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Sala (LNFS) was launched. Sport, which had been badly organized up to that point, was given a unified and professional structure and a national league for the first time. Since then, the number of viewers in the sports halls, but also on television, has risen steadily. For example, a first division match is broadcast live on Spanish public television every week .
Liga Nacional de Fútbol Sala (LNFS)
Men
The Spanish professional league Liga Nacional de Fútbol Sala was founded in 1989. The top division, the División de Honor, consists of 16 teams, with the last two relegated and the first eight play-offs for the championship. Under the División de Honor there are the División Plata Norte and the División Plata Sur , each consisting of 19 teams. There is also a cup competition, the Copa de España , and the Supercopa , which is played between the champions and the cup winners.
International
UEFA Futsal Cup
The champions of the Spanish league are eligible to participate in the UEFA Futsal Cup. This competition, which has been under the auspices of UEFA since 2001 , has been won eight times by teams from the División de Honor :
- 2001/02: Playas de Castellón FS
- 2002/03: Playas de Castellón FS
- 2003/04: Interviú FS
- 2005/06: Interviú FS
- 2008/09: Interviú FS
- 2011/12: FC Barcelona
- 2013/14: FC Barcelona
- 2016/17: Interviú FS
Futsal World Cup
The winner of the UEFA Futsal Cup has competed in the Futsal World Cup and others since 2004, under the auspices of FIFA . a. on the strongest representatives from South America, as well as teams from Japan and the United States . So far, the Spanish team Inter FS has won the competition five times:
- 2005: Interviú FS
- 2006: Interviú FS
- 2007: Interviú FS
- 2008: Interviú FS
- 2011: Inter FS
Women
The women's teams play the title in the División de Honor Femenino , also consisting of 16 teams.
National team of men
The Spanish national futsal team is one of the strongest in the world. It is subject to the Royal Spanish Football Association . Previous successes:
Futsal World Cup
European Futsal Championship
- Gold medal (7): 1996 , 2001 , 2005 , 2007 , 2010 , 2012 , 2016
- Silver medal (1): 1999
- Bronze medal (1): 2014
National team of women
The Spanish women's national futsal team, like the men's, is one of the strongest in an international comparison. At the World Championships, which have been held since 2010, the selection was able to advance twice to the final, where it was defeated by Brazil.
