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Beach soccer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beach soccer
International match
Highest governing bodyBeach Soccer Worldwide (1992–2004; co-organizer since 2005), FIFA (2005–present)[1]
Nicknamesbeach footie, beasal[citation needed]
First played1992 at Will Rogers Beach, Los Angeles, United States[2]
Characteristics
ContactYes
Team members5 per side
Mixed-sexNo, separate competitions
TypeTeam sport, ball game
EquipmentBeach soccer ball, shirts with sleeves, shorts; footwear is not allowed[3]
VenueBeach soccer court
Presence
Country or regionWorldwide
OlympicNo
ParalympicNo

Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand.[4]

Association football has long been played informally on beaches. Beach soccer was introduced in 1992 as an effort to codify rules for the game by the founders of Beach Soccer Worldwide, a company set up to develop the sport and responsible for the majority of its tournaments.[5] A biennial Beach Soccer World Cup has been organized by FIFA since 2005.

The first international matches were played in 1993 for men and 2009 for women.[6][7] As of July 2023, there are 193 men's and 64 women's clubs and 101 men's and 23 women's national teams sorted in the Beach Soccer Worldwide Rankings.[8]

History

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See also: Beach Soccer Worldwide

Beach soccer or sand football (futebol de praia or futebol de areia) originated in Brazil, more precisely in Rio de Janeiro. In 1950, the first official tournament was created to unify small neighborhood tournaments that happened since 1940.[9] It has grown to be an international game. The participation of international players such as Eric Cantona, Michel, Julio Salinas, Romário, Júnior and Zico has helped to expand television coverage to audiences in over 170 countries.[citation needed]

Beach soccer had been played recreationally for years and in different formats. In 1992, the laws of the game were envisioned and a pilot event was staged by the founding partners of Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) in Los Angeles, and the sport was adopted by Beach Soccer Los Angeles in 2017, being played all around Los Angeles County. By 1993, the first professional beach soccer competition was organized at Miami Beach with teams from the United States, Brazil, Argentina and Italy taking part.

In April 1994, the first event to be covered by network television transmissions was held on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, and the city hosted the first Beach Soccer World Championship in 1995. The competition was won by the host nation, making Brazil the first-ever world champions of Beach Soccer. Commercial interest began to match developments on the field, and growing demand for the sport around the world gave rise to the Pro Beach Soccer Tour in 1996.

A beach soccer game at the 2006 Chicago Beach Soccer Invitational

The first Pro Beach Soccer Tour included a total of 60 games in two years across South America, Europe, Asia and the United States. Interest generated by the tour in Europe led to the creation of the European Pro Beach Soccer League in 1998, providing a more solid infrastructure that would increase the professionalism of the spectacle. EPBSL, now known as the Euro Beach Soccer League, brought promoters together from across the continent and satisfied the demands of the media, sponsors and fans. Four years on from its creation, the first step in the building of a legitimate worldwide competition structure for the sport of pro beach soccer had been taken.

Behind the scenes developments were also taking place, with the Beach Soccer Company relocating its headquarters to Europe, firstly to Monaco and then Barcelona, before becoming Pro Beach Soccer, S.L. in April 2000. One year later, they would join forces with Octagon Koch Tavares (who had continued to organise the World Championships and events in South America) to form a single entity known as Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), with the aim of unifying all major Pro Beach Soccer tournaments in the world under the same structure and providing representation of the sport to major sponsors, the media and FIFA.

The next four years would see this growth consolidated by further progress both on and off the field. By 2004, some 17 nations had entered teams, contributing to vastly expanded television coverage of beach soccer and unprecedented demand from promoters in more than seventy countries looking to stage events. Such interest has allowed BSWW to strike certain sponsorship deals with international companies including McDonald's, Coca-Cola and MasterCard, who stepped up their involvement in 2004 and became title sponsors of the Euro Beach Soccer League.[citation needed]

FIFA became the global governing body of the sport in 2005 and organized the first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[10] The 2006 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship served as a qualification tournament for the 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The CONCACAF tournament saw the United States emerge victorious, defeating Canada in the final. It played a key role in the development of beach soccer within the region, showcasing emerging talent and promoting the sport's growth.

FIFA has recognized Beach Soccer Worldwide as the major entity behind the creation and growth of beach soccer, forming a "highly promising" partnership that was seen "in its full splendour" in the 2005 World Cup, held in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. France won the first World Cup, and the next year Brazil won it at the same venue. The World Cup has continued to flourish with the first held outside of Brazil in 2008 and future World Cups spreading as far out as Tahiti in 2013 and Portugal in 2015.[11]

In the late 2010s, significant strides were made in the development of beach soccer in the United States. A team based in South Florida called the Florida Beach Soccer FC, coached by former professional soccer player Chris Antonopoulos along with other beach soccer national team players like Francis Farberoff, Benyam Astorga and Oscar Gil, achieved success on the national and international stages, including a victory at the North American Sand Soccer Championships (NASSC) in 2011 and again in 2012.[12]

The NASSC gained international prominence with the participation of FC Barcelona's beach soccer team, which clinched titles in 2015 and 2017.[13] This period also saw increased participation in high-profile events such as the Clearwater Beach Soccer Tournament, part of the Major Beach Soccer National Championship Series sponsored by the United Soccer League, which bolstered the sport's visibility and competitiveness.[14]

Women's beach soccer

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Women's beach soccer game at YBF 2010 in Yyteri Beach, Pori, Finland

The Women's Euro Beach Soccer Cup and Women's Euro Winners Cup were first held in 2016, whereas the Women's Euro Beach Soccer League debuted in 2021. In addition, the 2019 World Beach Games had a women's beach soccer tournament, and a Women's Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup was held in 2021. The North American Sand Soccer Championships introduced women's beach soccer in 2019.

As of 2022, FIFA and the other five continental confederations do not host women's beach soccer tournaments. The Asian Beach Games, European Games and South American Beach Games also do not have women's beach soccer tournaments.

Rules

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The rules of beach soccer are based on the Laws of the Game of association football, with some modifications.[3]

Field

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A beach soccer pitch. The dashed white lines are not marked on the pitch and must be inferred by players and officials.[3]

A beach soccer field is a level sandy area smaller than a regular football pitch. The field is cleared of pebbles and seashells along with any other objects that could injure a player.[3]

The field is rectangular in shape and the touchline is longer than the goal line. The field dimensions are:

  • Length: 35–37 metres (38.3–40.5 yards)
  • Width: 26–28 metres (28.4–30.6 yards)[3]

The penalty area is at a distance of 9 metres (9.8 yards) from the goal and is marked by two yellow flags placed outside the field and next to the touchlines. Two red flags opposite each other are at the centre of the field to represent the halfway line. The goals are smaller than their standard association football counterparts, being 2.2 metres (7 ft 3 in) from the ground to the bottom of the crossbar and 5.5 metres (18 ft) in width between the inside of each upright.[3]

Players

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Each team consists of five players including the goalkeeper. An unlimited number of substitutions is allowed, from a selection of seven substitutes in FIFA competitions (the number may vary in unofficial competitions). Both throw-ins and kick-ins are allowed,[3] so the pace and flow of the game can be faster than regular football. Shoes and socks are not permitted; players must play in bare feet.[15] Goal clearances (the equivalent of goal kicks) are taken by the goalkeepers using their hands to throw or release the ball. A goal cannot be scored directly from a goal clearance.[3]

Match length

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A game lasts 36 minutes and is split into three 12-minute periods. Unlike in association football, in professional matches the referee is not the sole arbiter of the end of a period. A separate timekeeping official controls the game clock, which is stopped whenever the ball is out of play and typically counts down to zero, as in futsal. Draws are usually not permitted in beach soccer.[16] If the score is level at the end of regular time, the match goes into a three-minute period of extra time, followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out. As in association football, each team takes five penalty kicks alternately. If the score remains level after five kicks by each team, the shoot-out proceeds to sudden death, with the teams taking one kick each until one team scores and the other does not.[3]

Referees and discipline

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Beach soccer has two on-field referees (the referee and the second referee) who cooperatively officiate the game. They may be assisted by a third referee, who acts in a manner similar to football's fourth official, and a timekeeper.[3]

Yellow and red cards are also used in beach soccer. Unlike in association football, a team can bring on a substitute to replace a dismissed player after two minutes have elapsed.[17] However, as in futsal, this period of numerical advantage ends early if the penalised team concedes a goal.[3]

Free kicks and penalties

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Free kicks are awarded for various fouls. All free kicks are direct free kicks and must be taken by the player who was fouled or by their substitute in case of injury, except when awarded for handling the ball, in which case any player from the opposing team may take the kick. The laws require all players, apart from the opposing goalkeeper, to clear the area between the kicker and the goal. Penalties are awarded for fouls committed by the defending team within the penalty area.[3]

Other major differences from association football

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A beach soccer ball
  • The ball is inflated to a lower pressure (0.4–0.6 atm, compared to 0.6–1.1 atm in football).
  • Similarly to futsal, there is no offside rule.
  • Preventing an opponent from performing a bicycle kick is considered a specific foul.
  • Teams may not keep possession of the ball in their own penalty area for more than four seconds.
  • Goalkeepers may handle a back-pass from a team-mate a maximum of once during their team's possession. This is considered reset once the opposing team has possessed the ball.[3]

Tournaments

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The following are some of the competitions:

International

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Multi-sports games

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PRO/Amateur International

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Confederation

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AFC (Asian Football Confederation):

CAF (Confederation of African Football):

CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football):

CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation):

OFC (Oceania Football Confederation):

UEFA (Union of European Football Associations):

See also

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History Results Database

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References

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  1. ^ "FIFA launches first ever FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup". fifa.com. 1 February 2005. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. ^ "The History and Growth of Pro Beach Soccer (1992 to Present)". beachsoccer.com. 2001. Archived from the original on February 15, 2002. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Beach Soccer Laws of the Game 2024-25" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-11-21. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  4. ^ "BBC – Manchester – Life's a beach in Tameside". BBC News. 2009-08-14. Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  5. ^ Pickup, Oliver (2013-09-04). "Sand Aliens & Heel Flicks: Introducing The England Beach Soccer Team". Sabotage Times. Archived from the original on 2014-04-08. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  6. ^ "beach SOCCER RESULTS". August 16, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-08-16.
  7. ^ "Beach Soccer Worldwide". December 4, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-12-04.
  8. ^ "Rankings". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  9. ^ "Projeto de Lei 2102/2016 - Clause 2102/2016". Câmara do Rio de Janeiro (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  10. ^ "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup". www.beachsoccer.com. Archived from the original on 2020-05-13. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  11. ^ Borkakoty, Rituraj (November 21, 2013). "Beach soccer is bigger than beach volleyball: Cusco". Khaleej Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  12. ^ "Getting their kicks in the sand". Sun Sentinel. 2011-11-06. Archived from the original on 2025-02-25. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
  13. ^ "FC Barcelona claims U.S. Open title at North American Sand Soccer Championships". News 3 WTKR Norfolk. 2017-06-12. Archived from the original on 16 May 2025. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
  14. ^ "Soccer Invades Clearwater Beach". Clearwater, FL Patch. 2011-07-19. Archived from the original on 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
  15. ^ "BBC – The Guide: What's on in Somerset". BBC News. 2009-08-13. Archived from the original on 2014-05-15. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  16. ^ "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup: Rules, guide and how to play". FIFA. 24 January 2024. Archived from the original on 16 September 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  17. ^ "FIFA booklet – Beach Soccer Laws of the Game (2006)" (PDF). Images.ussoccer.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
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