Taiwan will host the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship from Nov. 21 though Dec. 5. Over 16 of the world's top futsal (indoor soccer) teams representing countries in Asia, the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Oceania, will compete in matches to be held at Taipei's National Taiwan University and at Linkou Stadium on the city's outskirts. These teams are the victors in regional contests.
Futsal is played by five-member teams on a field about the size of a basketball court. Since its beginnings in Uruguay in 1930s, it has become enormously popular throughout Latin America and beyond. Some of the world's soccer greats, such as Brazil's Pele and Ronaldo, got their starts playing futsal.
The Taiwan tournament is the fifth Futsal World Championship since FIFA-the Federation International Football Association-took over sponsorship of the event in 1989. This year, Spain will be defending the crown it took at the 2000 championship in Guatemala following the three consecutive championships won by Brazil.
It is the hope of those in educational, sports, and health circles in Taiwan that sponsorship of the 2004 world championship will spur local development of soccer, the world's premier international sport-with an estimated 240 million amateur players worldwide. In particular, officials at Taipei City's preparatory office for futsal promotion are eager to emulate the examples of Japan, South Korea, and several Asian countries where the game thrives thanks to government encouragement.
The main organizer of the 2004 Taiwan championship, the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA), was founded in China in 1936, relocated to Taiwan after 1949 and joined FIFA in 1954. Previously, the CTFA hosted the FIFA Women's Football Championship in Taiwan in 2001, and it has fielded teams in three previous FIFA-sponsored international competitions. These include the 1960 Men's Olympic Football Tournament in Rome, the 1991 Women's World Cup in China and the 2002 U-19 Women's World Championship in Canada.
