Football tennis

Footballtennis or also known as futnet is a sport originating in 1920s in Central Europe. In German it is called Fußballtennis, in French tennis-ballon, in Hungarian lábtenisz and in Czech and Slovak nohejbal.

History

In 1922 the members of the football club Slavia Prague started playing a game which they called football over the rope, because it was initially played over a horizontally suspended rope, which was later replaced by a net. This new game had similar rules to volleyball, except that an arbitrary number of players - usually 2 or 3 on each side - played with their feet instead of their hands.

In 1922 the members of the football club Slavia Prague started playing a game which they called football over the rope, because it was initially played over a horizontally suspended rope, which was later replaced by a net. Usually two or three players on each side could touch the ball three times (not two consecutive touches by the same player) with all parts of the body except for the arms and could let the ball bounce once between the touches, altogether three times before passing it on the other side.

In 1940 the first official rules were written. The first futnet footballtennis cup was played in 1940 and between 1953-1961 first league called Trampská liga was played. In 1961, futnet was recognised as an official sport by Czechoslovak Sports Organisation (ČSTV) and the Prague Futnet Commission was established.. In 1971 the "Český nohejbalový svaz" (Czech futnet footballtennis association) was founded.

Rules

• Single: one player, two touches, one bounce in all categories, court dimensions 9 m x 12.8 m.
• Double: two players, three touches (but not two consecutive touches by the same player), one bounce allowed for men and two bounces for women and juniors, court dimensions 9 m x 12.8 m.
• Triple: three players, three touches (but not two consecutive touches by the same player), one bounce allowed for men and two for women and juniors, court dimensions 9 m x 18 m.

A set finishes with 11th point with a two-point difference, maximum score is 15:14. To win a match, the team has to win 2 sets. The height of the net is 1.10 m. The players may not touch the net during the game, otherwise it is a point for the opponent.

International associations

Up until the 1990s, the sport gained little international recognition; however, in 1987, the International Footballtennis Association (IFTA, later renamed to FIFTA, the Federation International de Footballtennis Association) was founded. European championships have been held since 1991, and world championships since 1994. Union Internationale de Futnet (UNIF) was founded in October 2010 in Geneva. Of former FIFTA members and candidate countries, among the founding members were France, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Catalonia, Argentina, Australia and Costa Rica, joined by Poland, Denmark, Malaysia, Basque Country, South Africa, US, England and in 2011 by Ukraine and Austria.

According to FIFTA’s webpage, FIFTA was left with ten members: Croatia, Russia, Moldova, Romania, India, Turkey, North Cyprus, Hungary, Macedonia, Georgia. In April 2010 European Futnet Association (EFTA) was founded in Marseille, France, to reactivate the sport in Europe where it had been stagnating under FIFTA. Current EFTA members include Switzerland, France, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Basque Country, Denmark, England, Poland, Ukraine and Austria. EFTA is the continental association of UNIF in Europe.

International name

While footballtennis is still a commonly used term, the word futnet is gradually being used more and more as the new international name of the sport. What is the reason? Footballtennis is an unfortunate word chosen a few decades ago, indicating that this sport is just a kind of a hybrid of football and tennis and does not have its own identity. It was and maybe still is regarded by many simply as a complement to football training, as a way to polish footballers’ technical skills or a way to relax a bit during the hard training session. However, there are countries and people for whom this sport has a life of its own: associations, rules and statutes, registered players, regular competitions of different levels, etc. And these people and countries have never been really happy with the word footballtennis which did not reflect the true independent nature and importance of this sport. And that is why the word futnet has been chosen as a combination of two of the three key elements of the game – the foot and the net (the third being the ball). Spelt as futnet instead of footnet, it acquired a more international character as opposed to a purely English spelling.

World Championships

• 1st World Championship 1994, Košice, Slovak Republic

Single 1. Hungary 2. Slovak Republic 3. Romania

Double 1. Czech Republic 2. Slovak Republic 3. Romania

Triple 1. Slovak Republic 2. Czech Republic 3. Romania

• 2nd World Championship 1996, Maceio, Brazil

Single 1. Romania 2. Slovak Republic 3. Czech Republic

Double 1. Slovak Republic 2. Czech Republic 3. Romania

Triple 1. Czech Republic 2. Slovak Republic 3. Romania

• 3rd World Championship 1998, Szolnok, Hungary

Single 1. Slovak Republic 2. Czech Republic 3. Romania

Double 1. Czech Republic 2. Slovak Republic 3. Romania

Triple 1. Czech Republic 2. Slovak Republic 3. Romania

• 4th World Championship 2000, Prostejov, Czech Republic

Single 1. Czech Republic 2. Slovak Republic 3. Romania 4. Hungary 5. France 6. Switzerland

Double 1. Slovak Republic 2. Czeech Republic 3. Romania 4. Hungary 5. France 6. Norway

Triple 1. Slovak Republic 2. Czech Republic 3. Romania 4. Hungary 5. Norway 6. Switzerland

• 5th World Championship 2002, Szombathely, Hungary

Single 1. Czech Republic 2. Slovak Republic 3. Romania 4. Hungary 5. France 6. Switzerland

Double 1. Czech Republic B 2. Slovak Republic 3. Romania 4. Hungary 5. France 6. Switzerland

Triple 1. Slovak Republic 2. Czech Republic 3. Romania 4. Hungary 5. France 6. Usa

• 6th World Championship 2004, Prostejov, Czech Republic

Single 1. Slovak Republic "A" 2. Czech Republic "A" 3. Slovak Republic "B" 4. Romania "A" 5. Romania "B" 6. Hungary "A"

Double 1. Czech Republic 2. Slovak Republic 3. Romania 4. Hungary 5. France 6. Usa

Triple 1. Slovak Republic 2. Czech Republic 3. Romania 4. Hungary H 5. Switzerland 6. Usa

• 7th World Championship 2006, Oradea, Romania

Single 1. Romania 2. Czech Republic 3. Slovak Republic 4. Hungary 5. France 6. Croatia

Double 1. Slovak Republic 2. Czech Republic 3. Romania 4. France 5. Hungary 6. Croatia

Cross-Double 1. Czech Republic 2. Romania 3. Slovakia 4. France 5. Hungary 6. Usa

Triple 1. Slovak Republic 2. Czech Republic 3. Romania 4. Hungary 5. France 6. Usa

• 8th World Championship 2008, Nymburk, Czech Republic

Single 1. Romania 2. France 3. Czech Republic 4. Switzerland 5. Slovak Republic 6. Croatia 7. Poland 8. Hungary 9. Moldova 10. Turkey 11. Austria 12. Usa 13. Italy 14. Ukraine

Double 1. Czech Republic 2. Romania 3. Slovakia 4. France 5. Hungary 6. Switzerland 7. Ukraine 8. Usa 9. Macedonia 10. Austria 11. Poland 12. Croatia 13. Moldova 14. Italy 15. Turkey

Cross Double 1. Czech Republic 2. Slovakia 3. Romania 4. Hungary 5. France 6. Croatia 7. Ukraine 8. Usa 9. Switzerland

Triple 1. Slovak Republic 2. Czech Republic 3. Hungary 5. France 6. Switzerland 7. Austria 8. Moldova 9. Macedonia 10. Usa 11. Turkey 12. Croatia 13. Ukraine

• 9th World Championship 2010, Istanbul, Turkey

Single 1. Romania 2. Hungary 3. Croatia 4. Turkey 5. Macedonia 6. Moldavia 7. Russia 8. Northern Cyprus 9. Serbia 10. Georgia 11. Ireland 12. India

Double 1. Romania 2. Hungary 3. Croatia 4. Turkey 5. Macedonia 6. Moldavia 7. Northern 8. Russia 9. Serbia 10. Ireland 11. Georgia 12. India

Triple 1. Hungary 2. Romania 3. Croatia 4. Macedonia 5. Russia Ancishkin 6. Northern Cyprus 7. Turkey 8. Moldavia 9. Serbia 10. India 11. Ireland 12. Georgia

References

http://www.futnet.eu/efta/

http://fifta.org/portal/

http://nohejbal.org/