History Of Football: A Sport With Billion Fans In The World

JAKARTA - Who would dare to argue that football is the most popular sport on the planet. Football can unite the nation. Because of football too, a person's life can be lost. Whatever it is, before until now, world football has come a very long way.

Referring to a survey conducted by Nielsen, four out of 10 people claim to be soccer fans. Nielsen, in 2017, conducted a survey covering 18 global market areas. The results obtained, 43 percent of people admitted that they are very interested in football. Meanwhile, basketball fans are only 36 percent (second place). So what is the actual history of football itself?

Did you know that football is the cheapest sport among others? You don't need a goal ring, you don't need a racket, you don't need a board. Just a rubber ball that can be kicked.

Football can be played almost anywhere without special equipment. You can even take advantage of the low traffic roads if you want. It could be, it's simplicity that makes this sport so popular in the world.

The governing body for football, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), predicts that in the 21st century, there are 250 million football players. Meanwhile, the number of sports lovers is approximately 1.3 billion.

Behind the high public interest in football, the history of football is very long.

In a book entitled Football (2019) by Ina Hasanah, it is said that football was known in 255-206 BC (BC) around the 2nd to 3rd century.

In Asia, the origin of football was found in the area of China which has a game called Cuju. "Cu" means to kick, while "Ju" means leather ball.

According to FIFA, Cuju is played in the city of Lin Zi as a military sport to physically train soldiers. Cuju uses a ball made of animal skin filled with hair. While the goal they use is a net attached to two bamboo sticks.

The same thing happened in the ancient Roman civilization. Like China, the sport is used in military training. After that the Romans brought football to England (Britannica). Unfortunately it is not certain how much influence Roma football has had in England.

England itself cannot be separated from the game of football which is currently being contested and broadcast on television. In this country, football has become popular in the 19th century. At that time football was mostly played in cities and villages with different rules.

The differences in rules in football at that time were determined by who the organizers were and where the football was played. The difference in rules later made it difficult for the players who were not used to playing by different rules. Due to these conditions they are forced to play and compete only with the same rules that they adhere to.

Efforts to standardize football rules have occurred since 1843. The University of Cambridge, for example, made their own football rules and were then disseminated by their alumni who founded the club. Unfortunately these rules are not universally accepted in the UK.

In 1863, which was the era of the birth of modern football, rules about the game of football were made. The Fremasons Tavern then made standard rules for the game of football. Since then, the development of football rules has continued to develop, starting from the provision of referees, the rules of the game, to the standard of the ball.

Indonesia is also inseparable from football fever. Not only is it a big football fan base, Indonesia also has various football clubs.

Football in Indonesia began in the era of colonialism. Around 1914, the Dutch East Indies government still held power in Indonesia. In that year, soccer matches were held in several cities in Java.

The Dutch East Indies government held various soccer matches and was attended by natives and from the Dutch side.

The first football event in Indonesia was held to commemorate the colonial tentoostelling (Dutch colonial celebration). The championship was attended by four teams drawn from four cities, namely Bandung, Batavia (Jakarta), Surabaya and Semarang.

Not only that, the Dutch East Indies government then staged a bigger match under the name Stedenwedstrijden. This championship turned out to trigger Indonesian youth to fight against colonialism from the sport. Football also brings together indigenous youth from various regions.

Since then, football associations have emerged from several regions, namely Bond Batavia (WJVB), Bond Surabaya (SBV), Bond Bandung (BVB), and Bond Semarang (Semarangsch Voetbal-bond en Omstreken / SVO).

Over time, they succeeded in establishing an organization called the Nederlandsch Indische Voetbal Bond (NIVB) which was founded by members of the football association. However, in 1927 the name NIVB changed to Nederlandsch Indische Voetbal Unie (NIVU). This organization became the forerunner to the birth of PSSI in Indonesia.

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