Anyone who has sat on the terraces at Chungshan Stadium (中山足球場) recently and noted the small number of soccer fans cheering on the national team as it tried not to embarrass itself in its Asian qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup, will be aware that the hearts and minds of the population are not geared toward the "beautiful game."
Even free admission was not enough incentive to draw the crowds. The 12,000-seat stadium looked bare on each occasion, with an average of less than 450 people in attendance per match. And the attendance figures at the Asian Women's Football Championship, which was held in Taipei in December 2001, proved equally low, with far less than the anticipated number of over 1,000 fans turning out to see each game.
Undeterred by sluggish turnouts for international soccer tournaments, the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA, 中華台北足球協會) last year edged out some stiff competition from more soccer-friendly nations and won the rights to host this year's international football association FIFA Futsal World Championship.
"We first approached FIFA four years ago and we were given the go-ahead to begin preparing for the competition earlier this year," said Chang Chan-wei (張展維), the general secretary of CTFA. "It's very pleasing to have beaten more traditional footballing countries like Paraguay, Egypt, Iran and Thailand in the bidding process."
Set to begin on Nov. 21, the four-yearly competition is funded by FIFA. All participating teams' transportation costs to and from Taiwan, travel costs in Taiwan, accommodation and sponsorship deals are handled by FIFA. The only financial outlay incurred by the CTFA has been to ensure that the venues meet FIFA standards.
FIFA's footing the bill for an international soccer competition in Taiwan may seem an odd one -- and, some might say. a waste of time and money -- but soccer's governing body looks at it somewhat differently. Well aware of Taiwan's non-soccer tradition, the crux of FIFA's opting to hold the competition in Taipei is centered on the sport's development.
"The Futsal World Championship is one of our development programs, where we fully expect our expenses to be much higher than our income," said Andreas Werz, editor-in-chief of the soccer governing body's official monthly publication, FIFA Magazine.
"It's also our policy not to hold competitions in purely developed footballing countries. We looked at the infrastructure in Taiwan and decided that it was an opportunity to promote the young sport in a country that doesn't have a futsal
tradition."
Invented 70 years ago in Brazil, futsal is still not a truly global sport. Since the inception of the World Championship in 1989, however, the sport has seen an increase in popularity. Whereas only 46 teams battled it out in the qualifying rounds for the 2000 World Championships, double that number of national teams played qualifying matches for this year's tournament.
For the most part, futsal remains an amateur sport in much of the world, though professional leagues have been established in Spain, Brazil and Russia. Matches are also broadcast live on a regular basis, but the sport has yet to take a hold in strong 11-a-side soccer-oriented nations such as England, Germany and France.
Faster than the traditional game and with more emphasis on defense and attack rather than midfield play, futsal is played on an indoor hardwood court measuring approximately 40m by 20m. Teams
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