The sport is growing, top Fifa official says

Dubai: A top Fifa official has predicted a bright and rosy future for beach soccer.

"When we started in 1993 we had some big stars from the world of football joining beach soccer. Of course, they came with a little bit of a belly, but they took the sport to a new level. However since then the game has evolved and today we have some of the fittest sportsmen playing beach soccer," noted Joan Cusco, member of the Fifa Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee.

"When we started there were just players and names. But today they are stars just like any of the other football names. We have the Madjers [Portuguese captain], the Amarelles [Spain's star striker], the Benjamins [Brazil's pride] and the Bakhits [UAE skipper]," he said.

Formal recognition

Beach Soccer has indeed come a long way since its early beginnings way back in 1993 on the fabled Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. No doubt, it has been played recreationally worldwide for many years and in many different formats. However, it wasn't until 1992 that the ‘Laws of the Game' were envisioned and a pilot event staged in Los Angeles involving the US, Brazil, Argentina and Italy.

The world governing body for football embraced the sport only in 2004 when Beach Soccer Worldwide aligned itself with Fifa to create Fifa Beach Soccer SL to organise the first-ever World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. "Maybe some people never expected beach soccer to grow this way. And even today the sport is growing."