The Paris Olympic Games conclude this Sunday with the closing ceremony. As with every Olympic cycle, futsal fans have renewed their calls for the inclusion of indoor football, especially via social media. While some have resorted to criticizing sports like breakdancing, which made its Olympic debut in Paris, others, such as Alessandro Rosa Vieira, known as Falcao, have provided thoughtful critiques regarding the sport’s absence from the Olympics. Falcao, recognized as the greatest futsal player of all time, has consistently voiced his frustration, directly pointing fingers at both FIFA and the IOC. He has been advocating for the sport’s inclusion for years, lamenting, “Every Olympic Games, the same debate resurfaces.”
Falcao
Falcao also urged futsal supporters to refrain from undermining other sports. Emphasizing his admiration for the athletes competing in Paris, many of whom endure significant challenges, including self-funding and inadequate living conditions, to represent their countries. The reasons for futsal’s exclusion from the Olympics have been previously discussed, but Falcao elaborated with insight comparable to his skill on the court. He explained that both futsal and beach soccer suffer from their affiliation with FIFA. Noting that FIFA believes including futsal in the Olympics might reduce the significance of the World Cup, which is just two months away.
In 2007, there was a significant push to feature futsal as an exhibition sport at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, led by Carlos Arthur Nuzman, then-president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee. However, the Pan American Sports Organization ultimately sidelined this effort. A similar scenario occurred at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. Where futsal made its debut in the IOC universe, replacing football, which had been featured in previous editions. Argentina, having won its first Futsal World Championship in 2016, hosted a successful Olympic tournament, which surprised the IOC, but it turned out to be a fleeting success.
Road to
The Tokyo 2020 Games introduced new sports such as surfing, skateboarding, sport climbing, karate, and 3×3 basketball, and the Paris 2024 Games added breakdancing to the lineup. This has disappointed many futsal fans, especially as sports like cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash are set to be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Games. There’s even talk of introducing teqball at the Brisbane 2032 Games. Futsal’s Olympic future appears bleak, with Falcao attributing this to a “lack of interest” from major Olympic powers like the United States and China. He also pointed out that leading futsal nations have never united politically to push for its inclusion in the Games.
Falcao believes futsal should follow the path of basketball. Which successfully introduced 3×3 to attract younger audiences, culminating in its inclusion at Tokyo 2020 after a decade of development. Futsal, set to hold its first Women’s World Cup in 2025, should take a similar approach. Especially given the Olympic Agenda 2020’s focus on attracting younger, more urban, diverse, and egalitarian audiences—a goal that futsal has inexplicably been excluded from. Falcao calls on nations like Brazil, Spain, Russia, Portugal, and Italy to join forces with FIFA to seek a definitive answer on futsal’s Olympic prospects.
Despite past efforts by the Spanish Football Federation, including the creation of a working group to advocate for futsal’s Olympic inclusion, little progress has been made. Luis Rubiales, former president of the Federation, promised in 2019 to host a world congress on futsal to push for its Olympic inclusion, but the event never took place. Javier Lozano, president of the LNFS, has since criticized Rubiales, accusing him of prioritizing power over the development of futsal, leaving Spanish futsal in decline.