 An Iranian female goalkeeper in training | |
| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| Continent | Asia |
| Most recent champion(s) | Qatar |
| Most titles | Japan |
| Official website | www |
According to FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), the earliest form of football (soccer) was played in China and it was dated back to centuries.[1] The game was called cuju and it was played as the same way as football - without using hands or arms and a player had to kick the ball through two goal posts to score a goal where the ball was made of leather.[2]
Football in Asia is enormously diversified and it banks on various surroundings and periods. During the 21st century, football is emerging as a prominent sport in the Asian countries, with Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup,[3] India introducing the Super League in 2013 and Qatar and the United Arab Emirates' huge investment in clubs overseas.[4]
Asia has the largest fan following of football than any other continent which is approximately 800 million and it also exhibits 32 percent of the viewership for the English Premier League.[5]
The former President of FIFA, for the year 1998–2005, Sepp Blatter asserted his confidence that the future of football must lie in Asia because half of the world's population is in Asia. The official slogan of the Asian Football Confederation is ‘The Future is Asia’, and the AFC aims to develop football in Asia even more in the coming years.[6]
- ^ Zi, Guan. "Research on the Ancient Chinese Cuju and Its History of Evolvement". Guan Zi Journal.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Chinese Cuju (Ancient Soccer)". Health and Fitness History. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ Scharfenort, Nadine (2012). "Urban Development and Social Change in Qatar: The Qatar National Vision 2030 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup". Journal of Arabian Studies. 2 (2): 209–230. doi:10.1080/21534764.2012.736204.
- ^ "Football has entered the Asian era – and the region is reinventing the global game". South China Morning Post. 2 November 2016. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ "New Silk Road proves China now a world power: Spanish foreign minister". South China Morning Post. 24 April 2019. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ Weinberg, Ben (2015). Asia and the Future of Football. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781315739298.