LA NASCITA DEL FOOTBALL: THE BIRTH OF FOOTBALL

There are reports of games involving a ball in many

cultures through the centuries: the Vikings practiced
Knattleikr, a team sport in which a stick was used to hit
the ball; the Persians, Egyptians and Assyrians had ball
games in their tradition; those used by the Eskimos were
rounded wraps made of sealskin and filled with moss and
fur; the indigenous Hawaiians played with balls made of
fabric or leaves, the Fijians with grapes; finally the
Australian aborigines used the scrotum of the kangaroos
stuffed with grass and made a balloon.

If the news of ball sports practiced with the feet during

the modern age is manifold, it is in England in 1848 that
the first rules of football were established: in fact,
football in its various medieval and Renaissance forms is
an extremely violent, had been banned several times, the
last in the United Kingdom in 1835. However, the passion
for this sport had always remained alive in English
schools, despite the fact that there was no clear
distinction between what is now rugby and football: in
citizens of Rugby preferred the possibility of using the
hands (handling game or running game, that is "manual
game" or "running"), instead in Eton as early as 1747 only
the feet were used (dribbling game, "game of discarding
").
The only way to make football less brutal, and at the
same time delineate a clear demarcation from rugby, was
to codify a regulation: in particular, precise rules were
needed regarding the size of the ball, the playing time
and the number of team members.

NASCONO IFAB E FIFA

The foundations for early football had been laid in 1848,
but for some decades the rules and the game were not
uniquely recognized: in 1868 the referee began to use a
whistle to signal an infringement or validate a goal, and
no longer a handkerchief; only in 1871, the year of the
establishment of the Rugby Football Association [80] (the
schism could be said to be completed), was the figure of
the goalkeeper born (goalkeeper, or "the one who
protects the goal"), in particular he was the only
footballer to who was allowed to take possession of the
ball with his hands (in any area of the court), so as to
prevent an opponent's marking.
CALCIO FENOMENO MONDIALE
In 1908, football made its official debut at the Olympics.
In 1916 the first continental football event was
established: the Campeonato Sudamericano de Football.
In 1927 the first international club competition was born:
the Mitropa Cup. The International Cup was also
organized from 1927 to 1930, the first European
tournament to involve several national teams.
The eleven of Uruguay, first world champion
In 1930 the first edition of the World Football
Championship was held, an event placed under the aegis
of FIFA every four years. Over time it will become the
most followed sporting event in the world after the
Olympic Games.
After World War II, the most important international
trophies for club teams were born: the Champions Cup
(Europe) and the Copa de Campeones de América (South
America)