Here we report a complete commentary that our friend and collaborator Steve Harris has written for the "futsal column" on the Japanese Futsal Committee web page.

You can attend the FIFA Futsal Seminar by visiting the web page: www.fifafutsalseminar.com



Day #1: Opening Remarks, De Luise, Hermans

Up on a hill overlooking the expressway that takes one from the Chiang Kai-Shek Airport to downtown Taipei is the Grand Hotel, an absurdly opulent accommodation that played venue to FIFA's Futsal Seminar. This event was the second if its kind, the debut edition taking place in Guatemala City during the last world championship in 2000.

In attendance were maybe 200 or so futsal coaches, administrators, and referees from all over the world. FIFA richly rewarded us with an impressive set of materials. As one checked in, one was given a new copy of the Laws of the Game, a seminar program, the technical report from Guatemala, and "best of all" FIFA's latest contribution to coaching: "Training for Futsal Coaches," a two-piece set consisting of a 150-page text and CD-ROM.

Production of the coaching materials was supervised by Javier Lozano and Vic Hermans, authorities who really require no introduction here: although it is worth noting that Javier is now in possession of two
world-champion titles, while Vic can lay claim to an MVP award (from the '89 world championship) and coaching stints with Hong Kong, Malaysia, and his native Netherlands at no fewer than three different
editions of the futsal world cup.

"Training for Futsal Coaches" comes divided into three sections by age group: 6-10, 10-14, and 14-18. The beauty of the CD-ROM is that it visually illustrates the principles to be taught and what kind of drills to use in teaching them. How many times have you read about a particular drill and then scratched your head wondering how the hell it is implemented? Well, scratch no more!

The show started with the usual perfunctory greetings, first Mr. Blatter of FIFA, then FIFA General Secretary Urs Linsi, FIFA Futsal Committee President Ricardo Teixeira, and finally FIFA Director of Development Mary Harvey, who served as MC throughout the event.
Though he only attended via a Quicktime clip showed on a screen, Mr. Blatter impressed with the profound comment that "futsal is an artistic, acrobatic spectacle that should not be a copy of soccer." Hear hear!


"Proposal to Develop the Technical Level of Futsal in the Region" - Vicente De Luise

Though the program was supposed to have begun with former Brazil head coach Takao expounding on futsal education, circumstances prevented him from coming. In his place came Argentina's Vicente De Luise, who twice managed his country's national team ('89 and '92) and was invited to do the same by Chile and Thailand at later junctures. His talk, delivered in Spanish and offered through interpretation in both English and French, was titled "Proposal to Develop the Technical Level of Futsal in the Region." Mr. De Luise was also a member of FIFA's 2004 Chinese Taipei Technical Study Group.

I couldn't quite figure out which "region" he was talking about, but I'm assuming from his words that he based his observations on his time spent in Thailand, which was less than two years, I believe. Much of his lengthy introduction was in reference to how amazing it was for a person with his background to be coaching futsal half a world away. Well, yes: we've all come a long way, haven't we!

I couldn't really grasp what he was trying to offer in the way of insights. It all seemed rather matter of fact: "In Thailand they start playing at 15; in my country they say that what you don't learn by 12, you will never learn." Well, yes, those Argentine footballers are rather good, you know!

There was also quite a bit of reference to the need for getting futsal into the schools (agreed, if you can get the schools to go along), making futsal the leading indoor sport in front of basketball, teaching skills before tactics, working in coordination with governments and NGOs in order to promote the game, etc., etc. All are very valid generalizations, but nothing was really very specific.


"The Modern Futsal Coach and the Physical Preparation
in Futsal," Vic Hermans

It's always a pleasure to be in the company of the very charismatic and lively Vic Hermans, although I must say that his English is spoken at futsal speed: fast! And I had trouble following the structure of his talk. It seemed all over the map. What followed,
therefore, is my interpretation of what I think he said!

* A futsal coach has to teach his players as a father would; he's got to have a vision of what the game should look like; he's got to scout, analyze matches, and make sure that all of what he gets from this is reflected in training.

* Players have to learn how to move with agility in small spaces, to use both feet, to master fast footwork and individual skills. In futsal, the first 3-5 meters of movement is what counts, so increasing
speed there is crucial.

* The coach always keeps track of things with his eyes and his ears, and comes up with ideas for applying what he's learned in the play of his team. He surrounds himself with futsal specialists so that
there is common understanding and a common language spoken.

* The coach has short-, medium-, and long-term plans and is in control of the whole organization, from managing staff to keeping the media informed and making sure the team has sponsors.

* The coach always has to keep himself fresh.


Day #1: van der Hulst, Galan, Gracia

The second half of the day was devoted to the subjects of rules and refereeing, an area that I would argue is of more concern to the average futsal person than football person. For one thing, our sport, though almost 75 years old, has really come of age only in the last decade or so due precisely to rule modifications. Rules are what set apart futsal from football and what give our sport its grace and
elegance.


"Development of the Laws of the Game from the First
World Championship until Today" - Tom van der Hulst

The venerable Tom van der Hulst is a dignified and affable Dutch gentleman who has been a fixture on the FIFA futsal scene from its mid-80s beginnings. His background as an indoor-football administrator in his native country seems to have groomed him well for this role, for he has been a pivotal force in the modernization of futsal laws of the game.

Appropriately enough, Tom based his talk today on a comparison between the rules in their current form and their version in 1989, at the time of the first world championship.

I would like to use a table to illustrate this, but that won't be possible in this medium. Instead, refer to the list below.

Rule: Exceptions
1989: Nonexistent
2004: Allowed now for underage, females, seniors, physically challenged, etc.

Rule: Pitch surface
1989: Not specified
2004: Artificial, natural turf, soil allowed (no concrete for international matches) ; no more discussion about indoor vs. outdoor

Rule: Substitution zones
1989: At halfway line
2004: Moved more toward the middle of each half (to stay out of the way of the official's bench)

Rule: Ball
1989: Many experiments with regular size #5, size #4 with regular bounce, non-bouncing small ball, size #5 felt
2004: Size #4 with reduced bounce

Rule: Number of players
1989: Minimum of 2, no maximum for subs
2004: Minimum of 3, maximum of 7 subs

Rule: Wear
1989: Shin-pads not required, numbers not specified
2004: Shin-pads required, numbers 1-15

Rule: Number of officials
1989: One referee and two linesmen
2004: One main referee and one assistant referee; assistant referee has nearly identical authority (and oversees substitutions); timekeeper and third official required at international matches

Rule: Timekeeper
1989: Keeps time
2004: Keeps time, timeouts, and two-minute penalty time

Rule: Playing time
1989: 25 minutes on a running clock with added time; penalties kicks allowed after whistle; no timeouts
2004: 20 minutes on a stopping clock; penalty kicks from both points and free kicks (after sixth foul) allowed after the whistle; timeouts

Rule: Goals on kickoff
1989: No
2004: Yes

Rule: Ball hits ceiling
1989: Drop-ball right below that point
2004: Kick-in from point closest to touch line or goal clearance

Rule: Serious fouls
1989: Two-minute expulsion (no cards)
2004: Yellow and red cards used

Rule: Free kick ball in play
1989: After one rotation
2004: Once touched

Rule: Accumulated fouls
1989: None
2004: Wall-less free kick from the sixth

Rule: Restart when ball goes out over touch
1989: Throw-in
2004: Kick-in

Rule: Goal clearance
1989: Must touch own side of the pitch or any player before crossing halfway line
2004: Ball need only leave the penalty area

Rule: Corner kick
1989: No limitations
2004: Within 4 seconds

It was explained that these rule changes were based on three criteria: (1) that futsal be speedier, (2) that the rules be made easier to interpret, and (3) that the game be more of a spectacle.


"Experiences as a FIFA International Referee" - Pedro
Galan

If Pedro Galan is a familiar sight at futsal internationals, it could be because he has officiated at almost 300 of them; as of this day, 296 to be exact. His appointment the day after, the third-place playoff between Brazil and Argentina, would have been his last. Having been cursed with Spanish citizenship, he has never worked at a final of the world championship.

Starting on a light note, Pedro immediately informed the audience of everybody always first wants to know: How much does a referee make? The answer: 325 euros (in the Liga Nacional de Futbol Sala, I'm assuming). Timekeepers go home with the sum of 60 euros.

He noted that specialization of futsal refereeing was the key change that he had seen in his time at the top, which started with appointments at Espana '96, the world championship eight years ago. Apparently the countries where futsal-only referees handle the top
competition are Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Holland, and Russia, while in Japan, the USA, Croatia, and Argentina one can find top-flight games handled by those who officiate both futsal and football.

The key feature of Pedro's presentation was a video that he has been working on with FIFA. It very succinctly outlines chronologically the evolution of futsal's rules and officiating.

Again, a table would be preferable here for outlining the content of the video, but please refer to the following. (Better yet, watch the video by accessing www.fifafutalseminar.org)

1989 World Championship:
Futsal is a lot like football in that a size #5 ball is used and there are a referee and a linesman. No tactical systems were yet evident in the play of teams.

1992 World Championship:
The ball was still large and a referee still worked with a linesman, but modern systems of play started to emerge.

1996 World Championship:
Based on rule changes in the Laws of the Game issued in September of 1995, the ball was modified and the limit on accumulate fouls was introduced, thus giving birth to the penalty from the second mark. There was now a main referee and an assistant referee, with FIFA
asking member associations to recommend up to four officials. This brought the list of international referees to almost 100.

2000 World Championship:
As only 16% of the penalties taken from the second mark were scored in 1996, it was decided that the distance of that mark would be shortened from 12 meters to 10 meters. (Tom van der Hulst had mentioned 25% as the success rate FIFA was looking for.)
Meanwhile, the list of international referees had grown to over 200 from 75 member associations.

The Present:
FIFA is now committed to providing member associations with materials in order to see unification and accurate interpretation of the rules, which are based on the driving principles of (1) encouraging fair
play, (2) futsal that is more spectacular, and (3) safety for the players, and (4) simplicity of understanding.



"Refereeing lessons from Taipei 2004" - Fernando Tresaco Gracia

The final presentation of the day came from FIFA's Refereeing Department: a review of the three issues that had been identified and dealt with at Chinese Taipei 2004.

(1) Encroachment
(2) Sliding tackles
(3) Referee positioning

The first subject of encroachment referred to situations involving penalty kicks from the second mark; "double penalties." It was determined by referees that players on the defensive team were taking liberties: specifically, not giving the kicker the specified five meters of space (presumably to break the kicker's concentration and to intimidate); and they were also crossing the imaginary line that
spans the width of the pitch, with the penalty spot in the middle (presumably to gain quicker access to a ricocheted or stopped ball). The referees put a stop to this.

The sliding tackles isolated as an issue were far more serious: specifically, goalkeepers leaving the area and dispossessing opposing players. The most egregious example of this came when Spain's Rafa upended a Chinese Taipei player on the break and did not even receive a card! The officiating staff of Chinese Taipei 2004 got together and reaffirmed the following:
(1) that dangerous sliding tackles should be given a caution, (2) that sliding tackles made without physical contact were not to be considered fouls, (3) that goal-scoring chances stopped by a sliding tackle deserved a red card, and (4) that only a caution would be given if the chances of scoring a goal were small.

Lastly, the positioning of referees was referred to but there was not a lot of detail given. All I could get from Mr. Gracia's comments was that one referee should always make sure to position himself so that he can physically move with the fastest of counter-attacks, something I assume most referees try to do anyway.


Day #2: Tonelli, Rocha

The mood and feel of the second day of the seminar was entirely different from the first. For one thing, we were starting at the early hour of 7:45 this morning; for another, the topic of the day was "Futsal Administration." Maybe about one-fourth of yesterday's
audience was still in attendance, and, from the looks of them, about 90% were Asian.


"General Administration of Futsal in the Member Associations" and "Marketing of Futsal" - Fabrizio Tonelli

UEFA futsal head Petr Fousek was to have presented the first topic but was suddenly called back to the Czech Republic by some pressing matter. Instead, today's second scheduled speaker Fabrizio Tonelli, chairman of the Italian Futsal Committee and a subordinate under
Fousek in UEFA, filled in for the UEFA director. This turned out to be a most calamitous development.

It was decided that Mr. Tonelli should first make the marketing presentation he came prepared with and then touch on the area Fousek was scheduled to cover. The problem was that Tonelli's words were baffling essentially nonsensical. This was either a very poor
translation of something that once made sense, or a faithful translation of something that never made any sense at all. I couldn't tell. The language was English but the syntax was unfamiliar.

Jaws dropped and eyes glazed over in the audience, while FIFA staff squirmed nervously in their chairs. Once the floor was opened up to questions, the FIFA people fell over themselves trying to salvage the
presentation with a barrage of questions for the mysterious Mr. Tonelli, but the answers that followed were every bit as bizarre as the talk that preceded them. One earnest fellow in the audience, who had come all the way from Jordan, inquired about how to get sponsors, but he too met with an incomprehensible stream of consciousness that went over our heads and into the ozone.

Then, came a glimmer of light! Perhaps impatient with what he could not make sense of, a young coach from Venezuela raised his hand, prefacing what he was about to say with, "This is not a question but just something I'd like to share with the group." He went on to explain that futsal in Venezuela got its start in the schools and local tournaments, the latter of which are entered into by school teams registering as club teams. Those who do well attract mass media
attention, which in turn brings sponsors. And the FIFA name helps by giving the sport and its events prestige. Meanwhile, the national team is sent all around the country to promote futsal by demonstrating
how it is played at its top level.

Once this impromptu presentation ended, there was a spontaneous eruption of applause from the audience, many of whom surely felt cheated by the deplorable quality of the first presentation. One hopes that in the future presenters and their presentations are
screened a little more carefully in advance.


"Futsal Development in Asia" - Joao Rocha

If the first couple of hours this morning were the worst so far, the next hour turned out to the best of the entire seminar. AFC futsal consultant and Chinese Taipei 2004 Technical Study Group member Joao Rocha gave a state-of-the-art overview of the sport in Asia: where it's been and where it's going.

We all know Joao from his various capacities in futsal, but I for one had not known that he is a doctor of computer science and lectures in that discipline at university. The extent of his expertise in both information technology and futsal was on full display here, both in an excellent PowerPoint presentation and an extremely exciting DVD he has come up with. More on the DVD later.

I highly recommend visiting www.fifafutsalseminar.org to at least go over the PowerPoint presentation (I found that I could advance the slides with control+p), because I cannot completely cover it here. I'll just go over the more salient points.

Stretching from Palestine in the west to Guam in the east, the Asian Football Confederation is massive. Consequently, the state of futsal is very, very diverse throughout the region, including everything
from Islamic countries where the sport has its beginnings as a Ramadan event to places where it is hardly played at all. Conspicuously lacking from the region has been national tournaments played over the long term the key ingredient essential to the
popularization of futsal.

But the AFC has gotten serious about the game. Alongside of a number of elements central to football, futsal has been earmarked by the AFC as an area the confederation is intensively allocating resources to
the growth of, as part of its Vision Asia program. The plan is to get long-term national leagues going, start work on the youth and women's game, and make sure the entire region plays with the same set of rules.

Just as futsal has witnessed explosive growth on a global scale what other sport has seen its world championship go from 16 teams in 1989 to 96 teams a mere 15 years later? its progress in Asia is
significant of late. The list of international referees is at 37 and about half (22) of the member FAs have national teams entered in the AFC Futsal Championship.

Making this championship the crown jewel of Asian futsal is paramount to the AFC, and with this in mind certain modifications are in store. Rather than a contest of 22 nations, the plan is to hold qualifiers
in each of Asia's four major zones (west, central and south, southeast, and east) in order to cut down on travel expenses, better expose local media to the game, and allow teams to be more aggressive in their tactics. There is no need to crawl in to a defensive shell when playing neighbors. The benefit to the ensuing main tournament will be a more competitive field of 16 teams (four from each zone) that is also more of a delight to the spectators and press.

And next to this new version of the AFC Futsal Championship we also can now look forward to an exciting new DVD to facilitate the popularization of futsal in Asia. Titled "Futsal in Your Hands," it is
an amazing, all-in-one production that includes not only the very basics of the laws of the game, but also basic techniques of the game, highlights of Macau 2004, characteristics of each team, and much more.

As Joao completes his work with the AFC and prepares to head back to his native Portugal, he leaves us in Asia with an incredible legacy, both in his accomplishments in developing futsal in Asia and in
creating this fantastic new addition to the futsal instructional library.


Day 2: Panel Discussion

This concluding segment of the seminar featured more than a few noteworthy comments on futsal but unfortunately was a race against the clock due to the time wasted on the debacle earlier.

Before the panelists took the stage, Mary Harvey allowed representatives from Oceania and Africa to give a brief description of the state of futsal in their respective confederations.

Newly appointed OFC General Secretary Tai Nicholas explained that ten of the 12 member nations play futsal, and seven of those were present in the qualifiers for Chinese Taipei. The game is apparently played outdoors a lot in that region due to the lack of indoor facilities, and a significant problem faced is a lack of support for the volunteers who make the game happen, many of whom are not directly connected to the local FAs.

The gentleman from Africa was introduced as Hussein (Hussain?), an Egyptian. Starting with the rather disappointing news that the word futsal is generally not understood in Africa, he likened the state of
futsal in that continent to women'ss football: Just as Nigeria takes all of the women's titles, Egypt is the uncontested king of futsal, it being the only country with indoor facilities or anything resembling a futsal infrastructure. At this point, Africa is in dire need of instructional backup from FIFA apparently.

The panelists next took the stage: Tom van der Hulst (FIFA Futsal Committee Member), Vicente De Luise, Joao Rocha, Vic Hermans (Chinese Taipei Technical Study Group members), Mikael Salzer (UEFA Senior Manager and Head of Football Development), and Mary Harvey (FIFA
Director of FIFA Development Division).

Before questions were introduced, Mikael Salzer, who was making his first appearance at the seminar here, was asked to explain UEFA's promotion of futsal's status. By moving futsal to the UEFA Professional Football division, which is in charge of national team
events, UEFA is encouraging more member associations to participate in the European championship, a move that is also intended to bring more media and sponsors on board. Currently 34 of a total of 52 member
associations have entered the European championship.
The 18 not yet involved will be invited to observe the upcoming finals to be held in the Czech Republic.

The first question offered to panel was in regard to the direction futsal is headed in: How is it developing? Comparing this competition to the one four years ago in Guatemala, Vic Hermans noted that the
indoor game is developing similarly to its outdoor cousin: it is a much faster game now. He also added that the better teams are better physically prepared, a difference he could see in second halves and later in the tournament, when less prepared sides started to wilt. His advice to teams eliminated early: start to prepare for the next competition by getting a jumpstart on physical training.

Vicente De Luise agreed with Hermans' assessment of physical improvement and also pointed out that maybe 90% of the teams in this competition were comprised of futsal-only players. Whereas it was not long ago that one could not imagine Brazil drawing, much less losing, we now see the one-time kings of the sport knocked out in the semifinal, a situation that owes more to the futsal world developing rather than Brazil declining.

In terms of individual position, goalkeeper improvements were praised by Joao Rocha, who attributed this development to specialized coaches.
The area he sees as lacking is the free kick, which perhaps is being shut down by improved goalkeepers, but also hints at the need for new improvements in strategies and techniques. Joao thinks that not enough
free kicks are resulting in goals.

AFC President Dato' Peter Velappan was asked here to pose a question he had from early on: What to do about the teams that seemed to be taking advantage of rough play early in the competition. Tom van der Hulst was quick to point out that the team of officials worked hard early on to come to grips with this issue and consequently ensure that futsal was played in its intended manner: i.e., free of gratuitous physical contact. He also made a personal request that the best officials be appointed to the games of the best teams, a reference to what he saw as political considerations resulting in lesser referees officiating important matches.

Joao Rocha felt that the only way for referees to reach world-class status was to officiate futsal matches year round.

Mary Harvey used this opportunity to inform that FIFA would be taking an approach similar to football by gathering the top international futsal referees once a year in order to come up with guidelines for
instruction on applications of the laws of the game.

The subject next turned to rule changes. Prefacing his comment with the fact that he is satisfied with the current laws of the game, Vicente De Luise felt that it was worth considering Spain's call for throw-ins to replace kick-ins.

Joao Rocha argued that the rules are good at the moment and need to be left as is for a while in order to encourage common understanding. At the same time, he could see room for changes in three areas: timeouts that do not involve referee control (just let the players sit, drink, talk, and then come back on at the end of the timeout), more markings on the pitch to encourage players to respect five-meter distances, and more discussion between the main referee and assistant
referee to prevent either from taking on too dominant a role.

The next topic offered was the "value proposition of futsal": What potential value does futsal have to football associations that have yet to embrace development of the sport? Joao introduced the success
story futsal enjoys with Portugal's large regional association, where 55% of the revenues come from futsal player registration and 45% come from football. In addition, futsal has become in Portugal a gateway
to football participation by women to the extent where the futsal population among females is four times its 11-a-side counterpart. In fact, the 11-a-side national team has been reduced to using the
futsal pool to draft players.

Now in her post of FIFA Development Division Director for over a year and a half, Mary Harvey felt completely convinced that futsal's value is its role as venue for producing superior football skills.

Lastly brought up was the topic of women's futsal, an area that is bound to be favorably affected by FIFA's decision to increase from 4% to 10% the quota for the women's game among the 30 million dollars it offers in financial support annually to member associations.

Joao again brought attention to the Portuguese women's national team, which can easily line up games with Spain and Russia but is otherwise lacking in teams to play. Even in futsal-crazy Europe the women's game is lagging, a situation Joao thinks jeopardizes the sport's chance for inclusion in the Olympic program.

Vic Hermans recognized the issue all too well. After retiring, his first coaching job was with the Dutch women's national futsal team, a group that was no longer in existence when he came back home after eight years abroad! Fortunately, the female futsal Oranje are now back, but things could be better for women's futsal in Europe at the moment.

According to Mikael Salzer, UEFA is working on the issue. While not in command of accurate figures at the moment, he did explain that a European championship for women will be mandated once it is determined that 26 countries have national teams they can enter in the
competition.