football

While it is widely believed that the word "football" (or "foot ball") originated in reference to the action of the foot kicking a ball, there is a rival explanation, which has it that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were played on foot.[1] These games were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports often played by aristocrats. While there is no conclusive evidence for this explanation, the word football has always implied a variety of games played on foot, not just those that involved kicking a ball. In some cases, the word football has even been applied to games which have specifically outlawed kicking the ball.
Present day codes and families
Association football and descendants
Main article: Variants of association football
An indoor soccer game at an open air venue in Mexico. The referee has just awarded the red team a free kick.

* Association football, also known as football, soccer, footy and footie
* Indoor/basketball court varieties of Football:
o Five-a-side football — played throughout the world under various rules including:
+ Futsal — the FIFA-approved five-a-side indoor game
+ Minivoetbal — the five-a-side indoor game played in East and West Flanders where it is hugely popular
+ Papi fut the five-a-side game played in outdoor basketball courts (built with goals) in Central America.
o Indoor soccer — the six-a-side indoor game, known in Latin America, where it is often played in open air venues, as fútbol rápido ("fast football")
o Masters Football six-a-side played in Europe by mature professionals (35 years and older)
* Paralympic football — modified Football for athletes with a disability.[2] Includes:
o Football 5-a-side — for visually impaired athletes
o Football 7-a-side — for athletes with cerebral palsy
o Amputee football — for athletes with amputations
o Deaf football — for athletes with hearing impairments
o Electric wheelchair soccer
* Beach soccer — football played on sand, also known as beach football and sand soccer
* Street football — encompasses a number of informal varieties of football
* Rush goalie — is a variation of football in which the role of the goalkeeper is more flexible than normal
* Headers and volleys — where the aim is to score goals against a goalkeeper using only headers and volleys
* Crab football — players stand on their hands and feet and move around on their backs whilst playing football as normal
* Swamp soccer — the game is played on a swamp or bog field