Football Project

by : Vibhuthesh Kumar
HISTORY
The contemporary history of the world's favourite game spans
more than 100 years. It all began in 1863 in England, when
rugby football and association football branched off on their
different courses and the Football Association in England was
formed - becoming the sport's first governing body.
Both codes stemmed from a common root and both have a
long and intricately branched ancestral tree. A search down the
centuries reveals at least half a dozen different games, varying
to different degrees, and to which the historical development
of football has been traced back. Whether this can be justified
in some instances is disputable. Nevertheless, the fact remains
that people have enjoyed kicking a ball about for thousands of
years and there is absolutely no reason to consider it an
aberration of the more 'natural' form of playing a ball with the
hands.
On the contrary, apart from the need to employ the legs and
feet in tough tussles for the ball, often without any laws for
protection, it was recognised right at the outset that the art of
controlling the ball with the feet was not easy and, as such,
required no small measure of skill. The very earliest form of the
game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise
from a military manual dating back to the second and third
centuries BC in China.
This Han Dynasty forebear of football was called Tsu' Chu and it
consisted of kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair
through an opening, measuring only 30-40cm in width, into a
small net fixed onto long bamboo canes. According to one
variation of this exercise, the player was not permitted to aim
at his target unimpeded, but had to use his feet, chest, back
and shoulders while trying to withstand the attacks of his
opponents. Use of the hands was not permitted.
Another form of the game, also originating from the Far East,
was the Japanese Kemari, which began some 500-600 years
later and is still played today. This is a sport lacking the
competitive element of Tsu' Chu with no struggle for
possession involved. Standing in a circle, the players had to pass
the ball to each other, in a relatively small space, trying not to
let it touch the ground.
The Greek 'Episkyros' - of which few concrete details survive -
was much livelier, as was the Roman 'Harpastum'. The latter
was played out with a smaller ball by two teams on a
rectangular field marked by boundary lines and a centre line.
The objective was to get the ball over the opposition's
boundary lines and as players passed it between themselves,
trickery was the order of the day. The game remained popular
for 700-800 years, but, although the Romans took it to Britain
with them, the use of feet was so small as to scarcely be of
consequence.
FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

was founded in the rear of the headquarters of the Union
Française de Sports Athlétiques at the Rue Saint Honoré 229 in
Paris on 21 May 1904. The foundation act was signed by the
authorised representatives of the following associations:
Present at that historic meeting were: Robert Guérin and André
Espir (France); Louis Muhlinghaus and Max Kahn (Belgium);
Ludvig Sylow (Denmark); Carl Anton Wilhelm Hirschman
(Netherlands); Victor E Schneider (Switzerland). Sylow also
represented the SBF while Spir performed the same function
for the Madrid Football Club.
France - Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques
(USFSA)
Belgium - Union Belge des Sociétés de Sports (UBSSA)
Denmark - Dansk Boldspil Union (DBU)
Netherlands - Nederlandsche Voetbal Bond (NVB)
Spain - Madrid Football Club
Sweden - Svenska Bollspells Förbundet (SBF)
Switzerland - Association Suisse de Football (ASF)
When the idea of founding an international football federation
began taking shape in Europe, the intention of those involved
was to recognise the role of the English who had founded their
Football Association back in 1863. Hirschman, secretary of the
Netherlands Football Association, turned to the Football
Association. Its secretary, FJ Wall, did accept the proposal but
progress stalled while waiting for the Executive Committee of
the Football Association, the International FA Board and the
associations of Scotland, Wales and Ireland to give their opinion
about the matter.
Guérin, secretary of the football department of the Union des
Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques and a journalist with
Le Matin newspaper, did not want to wait any longer. He
contacted the national associations on the continent in writing
and asked them to consider the possibility of founding an
umbrella organisation.
When Belgium and France met in the first official international
match in Brussels on 1 May 1904, Guérin discussed the subject
with his Belgian counterpart Louis Muhlinghaus. It was now
definite that the English FA, under its president Lord Kinnaird,
would not be participating in the foundation of an international
federation. So Guérin took the opportunity and sent out
invitations to the founding assembly. The process of organising
the international game had begun.
The first FIFA Statutes were laid down and the following points
determined: the reciprocal and exclusive recognition of the
national associations represented and attending; clubs and
players were forbidden to play simultaneously for different
national associations; recognition by the other associations of a
player's suspension announced by an association; and the
playing of matches according to the Laws of the Game of the
Football Association Ltd.
Each national association had to pay an annual fee of FF50.
Already then there were thoughts of staging an international
competition and Article 9 stipulated that FIFA alone was
entitled to take over the organisation of such an event. It was
decided that these regulations would only come into force as of
1 September 1904. Moreover, the first Statutes of FIFA were
only of a provisional nature, in order to simplify the acceptance
of additional members. On the day of foundation, the
Deutscher Fussball-Bund (German FA) sent a telegram
confirming that it would adhere to these Statutes in principle.

Rules
Object of the Game
The aim of football is to score more goals then your opponent
in a 90 minute playing time frame. The match is split up into
two halves of 45 minutes. After the first 45 minutes players will
take a 15 minute rest period called half time. The second 45
minutes will resume and any time deemed fit to be added on
by the referee (injury time) will be accordingly.

Players & Equipment

Each team consists of 11 players. These are made up of one
goalkeeper and ten outfield players. The pitch dimensions vary
from each ground but are roughly 120 yards long and 75 yards
wide. On each pitch you will have a 6 yard box next to the goal
mouth, an 18 yard box surrounding the 6 yard box and a centre
circle. Each half of the pitch must be a mirror image of the
other in terms of dimensions.
Essentially the equipment that is needed for a soccer match is
pitch and a football. Additionally players can be found wearing
studded football boots, shin pads and matching strips. The
goalkeepers will additionally wear padded gloves as they are
the only players allowed to handle the ball. Each team will have
a designated captain.

Scoring
To score the ball must go into your opponent’s goal. The whole
ball needs to be over the line for it to be a legitimate goal. A
goal can be scored with any part of the body apart from the
hand or arm up to the shoulder. The goal itself consists of a
frame measuring 8 feet high and 8 yards wide.

Winning the Game

To win you have to score more goals than that of your
opponents. If the scores are level after 90 minutes then the
game will end as a draw apart from in cup games where the
game can go to extra time and even a penalty shootout to
decide the winner. Players must use their feet to kick the ball
and are prohibited to use their hands apart from goalkeepers
who can use any part of their body within the 18 yard box (of
which more can be found out in the next section).
A match consists of two 45 minutes halves with a 15 minute
rest period in between.
Each team can have a minimum off 11 players (including 1
goalkeeper who is the only player allowed to handle the ball
within the 18 yard box) and a minimum of 7 players are needed
to constitute a match.
The field must be made of either artificial or natural grass. The
size of pitches is allowed to vary but must be within 100-130
yards long and 50-100 yards wide. The pitch must also be
marked with a rectangular shape around the outside showing
out of bounds, two six yard boxes, two 18 yard boxes and a
centre circle. A spot for a penalty placed 12 yards out of both
goals and centre circle must also be visible.
The ball must have a circumference of 58-61cm and be of a
circular shape.
Each team can name up to 7 substitute players. Substitutions
can be made at any time of the match with each team being
able to make a maximum of 3 substitutions per side. In the
event of all three substitutes being made and a player having to
leave the field for injury the team will be forced to play without
a replacement for that player.
Each game must include one referee and two assistant
referee’s (linesmen). It’s the job of the referee to act as time
keeper and make any decisions which may need to be made
such as fouls, free kicks, throw ins, penalties and added on time
at the end of each half. The referee may consult the assistant
referees at any time in the match regarding a decision. It’s the
assistant referee’s job to spot offside’s in the match (see
below), throw ins for either team and also assist the referee in
all decision making processes where appropriate.
If the game needs to head to extra time as a result of both
teams being level in a match then 30 minutes will be added in
the form of two 15 minute halves after the allotted 90 minutes.
If teams are still level after extra time then a penalty shootout
must take place.
The whole ball must cross the goal line for it to constitute as a
goal.
For fouls committed a player could receive either a yellow or
red card depending on the severity of the foul; this comes
down to the referee’s discretion. The yellow is a warning and a
red card is a dismissal of that player. Two yellow cards will
equal one red. Once a player is sent off then they cannot be
replaced.
If a ball goes out of play off an opponent in either of the side
lines then it is given as a throw in. If it goes out of play off an
attacking player on the base line then it is a goal kick. If it
comes off a defending player it is a corner kick.

The Offside Rule in Football

Offside can be called when an attacking player is in front of the
last defender when the pass is played through to them. The
offside area is designed to discourage players from simply
hanging around the opponent’s goal waiting for a pass. To be
onside they must be placed behind the last defender when the
ball is played to them. If the player is in front of that last
defender then he is deemed to be offside and free kick to the
defending team will be called.
A player cannot be caught offside in their own half. The
goalkeeper does not count as a defender. If the ball is played
backwards and the player is in front of the last defender then
he is deemed to be not offside.