'Too Early to Say' About Olympic Futsal

(ATR) FIFA says futsal "should be considered" for the Olympics as soon as Tokyo 2020, but expect the federation's next step to be a strong push for its inclusion at the 2022 Youth Olympic Games.

Futsal made its Olympic debut at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The country has a strong tradition in the sport, having made every edition of the Futsal World Cup and winning the tournament in 2016.

The football-variant is played on a smaller surface indoors on a hard floor. Teams field five players a side and play with a smaller ball. Futsal has an emphasis on ball movement and skill in tight spaces. Many football players integrate futsal in training to help develop those skills to translate them in football matches.

"The tournament has been a success so far, with most matches having solid attendance and the upper tiers at Tecnópolis being opened when Argentina play," Kasra Haghighi, FIFA Futsal & Beach Soccer Operations Manager, said to Around the Rings in an email.

"TV interest is also present and people are following closely, as proven by the fact that we have had fans queueing to access the hall in the morning already for today’s Semi-Finals. Overall, having futsal at the Youth Olympic Games has raised participation levels and has resulted in the growth of the discipline worldwide."

All of Argentina’s matches have been broadcast live on local rights holder TyC sports. Argentine fans packed the venue for a semifinal match against regional rival Brazil. They left unhappy as Brazil won 3-2 to advance to the gold medal match. One fan in attendance described the atmosphere to ATR as "amazing scenes".

Being in the Youth Olympic Games program has served as a springboard for many sports looking to join the Olympic program. FIFA is beginning to have those conversations about futsal, but its Olympic future is still unclear.

A priority for FIFA is to use the successful 2018 YOG tournament to get inclusion in the 2022 YOG in Senegal.Marion Mayer-Vorfelder, FIFA Olympic Tournaments Group Leader, told ATR in an email that FIFA "would love" to be on the 2022 YOG program, pending the availability of venues. FIFA says futsal fits in with the IOC’s future vision of the Games, which includes more urban events that fit in Olympic cities.

"It might be too early to say [about bidding for Olympic inclusion]," Mayer-Vorfelder said. "This event has proven to be an ‘urban’ competition with free entry and the aim of making the whole city "own" the Games. That is definitely a great approach for the Youth Olympics and certainly the way forward.

"However, the urban approach is, also according to the IOC, something that should be considered for Tokyo 2020 and further Games."

Futsal is unlikely to feature on the Tokyo program, barring a last minute change to the sport program by the IOC, given that the program has already been finalized and scheduled.

Kenichiro Kogure, the coach of the Japanese women’s team, said it is a "dream" for all futsal players to one day get to play their sport in the Olympic Games. He said that the Japanese team’s play in Buenos Aires will have an effect on helping get more young people to play futsal. Japan qualified for the finals in women’s futsal against Portugal and is guaranteed at least a silver medal.

"The first Olympic Games for futsal is very emotional for our team, and very special," Kogure said to ATR. "For the sport of futsal to participate in the Olympics it is a dream of all the people who play. We hope that all the people thinking about playing futsal, see the emotional victories of our team and [consider the sport]."

Coverage of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games is made possible in part by BA 2018

Written by Aaron Bauer in Buenos Aires.

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