Indoor soccer

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Indoor soccer tournament

Indoor soccer is a variant of soccer that takes place in sports halls . Significant differences to field soccer are the significantly smaller playing area, a smaller number of players and often a perimeter border instead of touch lines and others. This makes the game much faster and with more goals.

The version of indoor football officially recognized and regulated by the world football association FIFA is called " Futsal ".

Indoor soccer in German-speaking countries

Rudolf Reinacher Memorial Tournament, the oldest indoor tournament in the world

Indoor soccer has been played at the 1st CfR Pforzheim since 1956. Indoor soccer has been played in Germany since the 1970s, mainly among youth and amateur players. Later, the clubs of the first and second Bundesliga discovered indoor football as a way to bridge the winter break . The first indoor tournament on German soil with professional teams took place on December 9, 1970 in Wuppertal-Heckinghausen. In addition to the host Wuppertaler SV , the Bundesliga clubs Borussia Mönchengladbach , Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Borussia Dortmund competed . The host WSV won.

Development in Germany

When indoor soccer was booming in the 1980s and was seen more and more often on television, the DFB decided to hold its own competition, the Indoor Masters . During the winter breaks of the 1990s, around 8–15 tournaments took place throughout January, in which clubs from the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga, as well as amateur teams and foreign clubs, took part on a voluntary basis. One-day tournaments took place from Emden to Leipzig and from Kiel to Friedrichshafen, almost regularly at the venues Schwerin, Kiel, Oldenburg, Leipzig, Hanover, Düsseldorf, Krefeld and Karlsruhe. The annual tournaments held over several days in Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Munich and Bremen were particularly popular. These tournaments usually had the highest value, which depended on the participating clubs. The clubs with the most points took part in the actual indoor championship at the end of January, which was held alternately in Munich and Dortmund.

In 1998 this system was reformed and the DFB Indoor Cup was created: every first and second division team was assigned - sometimes relatively arbitrarily - to one of five tournament locations and only played this one tournament. Selected amateur teams came to this field of participants; foreign teams were no longer allowed. The financial incentives have been increased significantly. The disadvantage quickly became apparent: Instead of “booth magic”, boring tactics often dominated the picture of the tournaments, many top division clubs listlessly rewound their “prescribed” tournament. The tournament venues of this time are Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hanover, Bremen, Oberhausen, Dortmund, Leipzig, Riesa and Munich, the five tournaments were evenly distributed across Germany. As before, the qualifying tournaments were followed by a Masters with twelve teams in Dortmund or Munich.

In 2001 an official indoor round was held for the last time. In the years that followed, quite a number of first and second division clubs played in privately organized indoor tournaments. National one-day tournaments established themselves particularly in Riesa, Oldenburg, Mannheim, Nuremberg, Bamberg and Frankfurt. The “really big names” in German football, both in terms of clubs and players, were not represented in the tournaments of those years. The sporting value was therefore very limited. Scheduling problems and the risk of injury are often given as reasons. An attempt in the meantime to hold indoor tournaments on natural grass (the German premiere took place on January 5, 2008 in Halle / Westphalia) did not prevail over the long term. It stayed with two tournaments in Halle / Westphalia and one tournament in Dortmund 2009, in which numerous national players competed for Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

From the following year 2010, the winter break was significantly shortened, which drastically reduced the number of tournaments and participating clubs. The attempt to establish new tournaments only succeeded for a short time. Fan riots - like in Essen 2013, Bielefeld 2014 and Frankfurt 2015 - brought some tournaments to the brink of demolition. For this reason, no tournament has been held in Hamburg-Alsterdorf since 2013. The fact that the last Bundesliga clubs that played indoor tournaments at all often only competed with reserve or youth players even in their hometowns regularly caused annoyance. For the first time in decades, not a single first division team competed in an indoor tournament in 2016, and the same applies to 2018. On the other hand, many second and third division teams saw and still see the tournaments as a source of financial income or as a way to finance their training camps. In 2018, a national tournament with four professional teams took place in Gummersbach.

After previous individual events, indoor tournaments with so-called "traditional" or "all-star teams", in which many "big" national and international clubs, numerous former Bundesliga players and occasionally even former national players have become significantly more important, have gained significantly in importance can be found. Venues such as Lingen, Krefeld, initially Dortmund, Oldenburg and especially Berlin as the end point of a small "Masters series" were able to establish themselves permanently with tournaments alongside long-established locations such as Mülheim an der Ruhr or Minden. Many tournaments with professional teams have now been converted into those with traditional teams. Names like Miroslav Klose, Tim Wiese, Thomas Häßler or Michael Ballack illustrate the increasing relevance of these tournaments, detached from the need to prepare during the regular winter break.

Indoor tournaments also continue to play a very important role at the regional level in Germany: In many cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, city championships are held in the hall, in Schleswig-Holstein and some eastern German federal states, tournaments for victory at federal state level take place. Since 1992, almost all soccer clubs in Saarland have played eight participants in over 45 qualifying tournaments for an indoor championship held alternately in Homburg / Saar and Völklingen at the beginning of February - for the first time in the Saarlandhalle in Saarbrücken in 2014 and permanently there from 2017. This system - which also attracts clubs from Rhineland-Palatinate, France and Luxembourg - corresponds to that of the DFB indoor champions until 1998. In 2016, futsal elements were integrated into the hall rules for the first time, but typical elements such as the surrounding boards or the size of the goals were deliberate maintained.

In the recent past, the DFB has realigned indoor football and organized the DFB Futsal Cup as the unofficial German futsal championship from 2006 to 2014 . An official German futsal championship was held for the first time in the 2014/15 season. In addition, in the 2014/15 season there were viewing courses for the development of a German national futsal team, which then played its first international matches in 2016.

National indoor tournaments and winners from 2002 in Germany

Selection criterion: at least two clubs from the first or second division and at least 5 evaluation points according to the "old" DFB evaluation table (first in the Bundesliga after the last matchday before the winter break = 36 points, descending to the last in the second division with one point; German Teams including 1 point, foreign clubs 20 points; total number of points of a tournament divided by the number of participating clubs).

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2017

2019

2020

Winner of other indoor tournaments (since 1999)

Indoor tournaments are listed in Germany that do not meet the above criteria, but still received a certain media presence.

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Development in Austria and Switzerland

Servette against St. Gallen at the 1998 Hallenmasters final in Basel

The traditional Wiener Stadthallen tournament has existed in Austria since 1959 . Josef Argauer is considered the intellectual father of this tournament and the inventor of indoor football in general. The tournament took place annually until 2005. 2006 was paused at the request of the large clubs SK Rapid Wien and FK Austria Wien , but continued again in 2007. The record winner is FK Austria Wien, followed by SK Rapid Wien, the Wiener Sport-Club , First Vienna Football Club and the FavAC . In 1971, FC Bayern Munich made a guest appearance with all of its stars, which ended with the tournament victory.

In addition to the tournament in Vienna, there is also another traditional, annual tournament in Graz. SK Sturm Graz hold the record in tournament victories there, ahead of their local rivals Grazer AK .

In Switzerland from 1997 to 1999 a Swiss championship in indoor football was held. In a total of three tournaments in St. Gallen , Zurich and Lausanne , in which all teams of the National League A participated, the best eight teams qualified for the final tournament of the indoor champions in Basel . The championship title was won by FC Lausanne-Sport in 1997 , FC St. Gallen in 1998 and Lausanne-Sports again in 1999. From 2006 to 2016 there was an annual professional indoor soccer tournament in Winterthur with the indoor masters in the Deutweg ice rink .

The described development in indoor football only occurred in Germany and Austria, in other countries, however, futsal , a variant of indoor football without boards, became more popular. In the meantime, the DFB also held a German championship between the regional winners of the existing leagues for the first time. The winner of the 1st DFB Futsal Cup was UFC Münster.

Development of indoor football in North America

In the United States and Canada , but also in Mexico , a type of indoor football developed from the 1970s onwards, some of which deviated significantly from FIFA rules. Major leagues at that time were the Major Soccer League , the National Professional Soccer League and the North American Soccer League . Today the American Indoor Soccer League , the Canadian Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League and the Major Indoor Soccer League , with teams from the USA and Mexico, represent the most important indoor soccer classes in North America.

The playing field is mostly rectangular and has blunt corners, the flooring is often artificial turf, but basketball floors are also used in college sports. The playing field is surrounded by a 1.80 m high board with gates at both ends. If the ball is played over the boards, the opposing team receives a free kick . The usual playing field is 60 meters long and 25 meters wide, which corresponds to the dimensions of a North American ice hockey surface. The game is usually played four times for 15 minutes. There is a three-minute break between the first and second as well as the third and fourth quarter, at half time the game is interrupted for a quarter of an hour. If there is a tie after 60 minutes, extra time is played with the golden goal rule. The teams consist of five field players and a goalkeeper as well as a certain number of substitutes. Most leagues play without an offside rule .

Depending on the league, there are also varying rules that have often been adopted from other sports, such as ice hockey. So there is often a fluent change. The allocation of points for hits also differs from one league to another. For example, from 1989 the National Professional Soccer League distributed one, two or three points per hit, depending on the distance from which a hit was scored.

regulate

In indoor football, the same rules generally apply as in football. However, some rules have been adapted. According to the DFB, the individual regional associations are responsible for interpreting and adapting the football rules prescribed by Fifa. For individual events such as indoor tournaments, the rules of the game, especially in the amateur area or in lower leagues, are determined according to individual circumstances (such as hall size and marking, age of the players ...). Deviations from the General Football Rules can be, for example:

  • Depending on the size of the field, up to six players (one goalkeeper and five field players) per team. A team usually consists of as many substitutes as there are on the field, i.e. up to twelve players. It is allowed to change on the fly, but for a change between goalkeeper and field player, as outside on the field, a game rest and information to the referee is mandatory.
  • The game is played on 5 × 2 m goals. In contrast to this, handball goals (3 × 2 m) can be used.
  • The guidelines only stipulate the maximum playing times per game and matchday; for the DFB area this is up to 2 × 12 minutes per game and max. 180 minutes per game day per team. In any case, the tournament organizer must announce the playing time in advance in the tournament announcement.
  • The penalty point is 9 m in front of the goal (or 7 m for handball goals).
  • The penalty area is usually determined by the marking in the hall, for example a handball semicircle without a goal area .
  • The offside rule is usually lifted.
  • At the kick-off and other continuations of the game such as free kick, goal kick or penalty kick, all opposing players must be at least 3 m away from the ball.
  • In addition to the personal penalties available outdoors such as yellow and red cards, time penalties (e.g. for 2 minutes) can be imposed for more serious fouls.
  • In contrast to futsal , the size and weight of the match ball must correspond to size 5 used in men's professional sport . It has a circumference of 68 to 70 cm, weighs between 410 and 450 g and has an overpressure of 0.6 to 1.1 bar.
  • Instead of throwing in , players play with their feet into the field indoors.
  • In contrast to futsal, when kicking the ball must not cross the center line

Web links

Commons : Indoor Soccer  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Indoor soccer  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ 1. CfR Pforzheim: Rudolf-Reinacher-Gedächtnisturnier. In: Internet source. 1. CfR Pforzheim, accessed on January 27, 2020 .
  2. ↑ 11 Friends: Lazy Booth Magic. January 2019 .
  3. ↑ WDFV - Indoor football in transition: This is why futsal belongs to the future
  4. ↑ German Futsal Championship
  5. ↑ Football rules and regulations. In: German Football Association. Archived from the original on September 27, 2009 ; Retrieved June 9, 2013 .