Sevens football

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Sevens Football
Sevens Football Association (SFA) Logo
Characteristics
Team members7 per side
TypeSports
EquipmentFootball
VenueFootball pitch
Presence
Country or regionSouth India
OlympicNo
ParalympicNo

Sevens Football is a seven-a-side version of association football played in India, typically on a smaller field than a full-size football pitch.[1][2] Professional sevens football is predominantly popular in Tamil Nadu and northern Kerala in southern India.[3] The matches in Sevens tournaments are often played to fully packed stadiums.[4] All India sevens players have more technical ability than elevens players[citation needed] and games can be physical.[1] In All India Sevens Football, new clubs cannot be formed and existing clubs can be sold Sevens tournaments have also attracted players from other parts of India,[5] as well as international players including some from Africa.[6] Matches are held from November to May (suspended during the monsoon break).[2]

The Sevens' Football Association (SFA) organizes around 50+ All India Sevens tournaments among different clubs across South India.[7]

Several footballers from South India, including India internationals / ISL such as I. M. Vijayan,[5] Ashique Kuruniyan, VP Suhair, Mashoor Shareef, CK Vineeth, Zakeer Manuppa, Mohammed Rafi, Asif Kottayil and Anas Edathodika, credit their experiences in Sevens tournaments for helping them improve their footballing skills and develop their passion for the sport.[8][1]

Format[edit]

The All India Sevens football is a 60 minute game with two halves of 30 minutes each. The maximum number of substitutions that can be made in a match is three, A club can register 6 foreign players and 10 domestic players. Three foreign players can play simultaneously. Two unsigned guest players can be fielded. Clubs spend between one lakh (Rs. 1,00,000) to seven lakh to sign one player, the leading team, Al Madeena Cherpulassery, spent around one crore (Rs. 1,00,00,000) for the 2022-23 season alone. The marketing potential of the All India Sevens is endless, so clubs have no difficult to get sponsorship.

In popular culture[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Run, Ashique, run: The Kerala speedster who turned India's premier trickster". ESPN. 2019-10-13. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  2. ^ a b "FIFA discovers the beauty of Sevens Football: What's this format and why is it so popular in Kerala". ESPN. 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  3. ^ "Sevens football season kicks off in Kerala". 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  4. ^ a b "How Kerala shrunk football to make it its own". Times of India. 2019-10-20. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  5. ^ a b "'Sevens football helps me retain my passion for the game'". Sportstar. 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  6. ^ "The African footballers changing the game in India". BBC. 2018-08-13. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  7. ^ "Sevens the lifeline of country football". The New Indian Express. 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  8. ^ "From Malappuram Sevens to Kerala Blasters - Anas Edathodika remembers his roots". Yahoo! Sports. 2019-01-29. Retrieved 2020-01-02.