Pro Futsal League changing the futsal rules in North America
22.12The Professional Futsal League is bringing the world�s authentic small sided game to North America on a major league level with a high scoring, fast paced, entertaining version of the beautiful game. The PFL will kick off the exhibition season in 2017 with the inaugural season kicking off in 2018. The PFL will be divided into Regional Conferences, which will provide a high level of competition and heated rivalries between traditional regional city rivals.
When the Professional Futsal League launches in 2017 in the USA, its format will not be like the futsal we know around the world. The Professional Futsal League is changing the rules of futsal in the following ways, feeling that these changes will suit an American audience:
When the Professional Futsal League launches in 2017 in the USA, its format will not be like the futsal we know around the world. The Professional Futsal League is changing the rules of futsal in the following ways, feeling that these changes will suit an American audience:
- Many futsal games around the world are played on 20-meter-wide, 40-meter-long courts, but in some futsal leagues use smaller courts, depending on venue options. Nelson said PFL owners voted to play on standardized 20-by-40 courts, the maximum-allowed size in futsal.
- Futsal games around the world are generally played in two 20-minute halves. PFL owners voted to become the first futsal league to use four 12-minute quarters. Futsal games played in halves generally take 90 to 100 minutes to play. American audiences, PFL owners determined, expect closer to two hours of entertainment. "We'll be the only league in the world with that (four-quarter) format," Nelson said. "Again, that's part of the NBA injection here."
- Owners also voted to add TV timeouts and decreed that in cases of tie games, the first overtime will be played 4-on-4 and for five minutes. If the game is still tied after overtime, each team will select three players to participate in a shootout format. Each player would get a running start from mid-court and have five seconds in which "to score the ball in motion".
Changing the rules to suit an American audience has been done before, but proved to be a mistake by Major League Soccer. One aspect that had alienated fans was that MLS experimented with rules deviations in its early years in an attempt to "Americanize" the sport. The league implemented the use of shootouts to resolve tie games. MLS also used a countdown clock and halves ended when the clock reached 0:00. The league realized that the rule changes had alienated some traditional soccer fans while failing to draw new American sports fans and the shootout and countdown clock were eliminated after the 1999 season. Furthermore, the league's quality was cast into doubt when the U.S. men's national team, which was made up largely of MLS players, finished in last place at the 1998 World Cup. What will happen to the American Futsal team when they play in FIFA and CONCACAF competitions? American's playing what will be gradually known as American Futsal, will they be able to adapt to FIFA rules? Will this affect the quality of the American Futsal team? The Professional Futsal League says that the top Futsal players in the world will be playing in their league. Have they asked the top players if they will want to play in this format? Will they want to support and play in what will be known as American Futsal? Some will say yes, for the money as this will be the highest paid league in the world but how will these players be seen by traditionalists of the sport? The Professional Futsal League may be celebrating the interest and investment of the NBA and other major brands but what will their decisions mean for the support of futsal and will the rest of the traditional futsal world respect and support their decision making?
Source: Futsal Focus
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