In early 2004, FIFA confirmed that football originated in China, and "Cuju" was the earliest football activity recorded in historical materials. "Warring States Policy" and "Historical Records" are the earliest documents and classics recording Cuju. The former describes the popular Cuju activity in Linzi, the capital of Qi State, during the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,300 years ago. The latter records that Cuju was used to train soldiers and examine the physical fitness of soldiers at that time. Method ("Kicking up is the strength of the army, so training as a warrior means you know you have talent").
Process of confirming the origin of football:
Football is the most magical sport in the world today and is recognized as the largest sport in the world. According to incomplete statistics, now the world There are about 800,000 teams that regularly participate in competitions in the world, and about 40 million registered athletes, including about 100,000 professional athletes. There are 800 million avid football fans around the world. During the World Cup, the number of viewers reached 2 billion. The football industry employs 100 million people and its influence spans the world.
Football is an ancient sports activity with a long history. Modern football originated in the UK, moved from the UK to Europe, and from Europe to the world - modern football has become the most popular sport in the world and the number one sport in the world! Football originated from a ball game in ancient my country The game "Cuju" was later spread to Europe through the Arabs and developed into modern football. Therefore, the hometown of football is China.
In July 1958, when Dr. Havelange, the former president of FIFA, came to China, he said: Football originated in China.
In 1985, at the opening ceremony of the first "Kodak Cup" World Youth Football Championship held in China, the then FIFA President Mr. Havelange said in his speech that football originated here, and With a history of more than 2,000 years, this is indisputable. Blatter, who was the director of FIFA's technical committee at the time, said that football originated in China and later spread to the West through war.
In the "Report on the History of International Football Development" delivered by FIFA President Blatter at the coaches training class organized by the Asian Football Confederation in 2001, he once again emphasized: "Football originated in China."
On March 16, 2002, football king Pele visited China. Entrusted by the China Tourism Administration, Professor Liu Bingguo, a sports historian at Xuzhou Normal University, arranged a Han Dynasty Cuju performance for Mr. Bailey at the foot of the Great Wall, which aroused Mr. Bailey's great interest. On the spot, he and the former head coach of the Chinese football team Mr. Milutinovich joined the "show" together.
On February 4, 2004, FIFA Deputy Secretary-General Jér?me Ciampagne officially announced at a press conference in London: "Although many countries consider themselves to be the birthplace of football, But historians have shown with definite evidence that football originated from Cuju in China." On May 8, 2004, FIFA President Blatter went to Kuala Lumpur to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the AFC. He met with the Chinese delegation. At that time, he made it clear that after expert research, football originated in China, and awarded the Chinese Football Association a symbolic trophy "Football originated in China". He also hopes that the 2004 China Asian Cup football match should be used as an opportunity to grandly promote this concept.
On May 8, 2004, FIFA President Sepp Blatter made it clear that football originated from ancient Chinese Cuju. On July 15, 2004, Mr. Veerappan, Secretary General of the AFC, on behalf of FIFA and the AFC, officially announced the origin of football in China at the press conference held after the opening ceremony of the 3rd China International Football Expo in Beijing. It is the birthplace of football.
On July 15, 2004, at the opening ceremony of the 3rd China International Football Expo in Beijing, FIFA President Mr. Blatter visited the Linzi exhibition area and signed the Linzi antique Cuju as a souvenir.
On May 20, 2005, at the closing ceremony of the FIFA Centenary Celebration held in Zurich, Switzerland, FIFA President Mr. Blatter issued the "Football Origin Certificate" to Linzi, the birthplace of football. FIFA Secretary General Us Linz wrote an inscription: Because my name is Linz, I am even more proud that football originated in Linzi. I thank China for creating football for the world!
The development of Cuju in China
Cuju in the Han Dynasty was a means of training soldiers, and a relatively complete system was established. If a court is specially set up, it is rectangular in the east-west direction, with six symmetrical "Ju areas" also called "Ju rooms" at each end, each guarded by one person. The site is surrounded by a fence.
The game is divided into two teams, with each other's offense and defense, and the outcome is determined by the number of kicks into the opponent's room.
After the initial popularity in the Han Dynasty, Cuju activities reached a climax in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and even the division of labor according to the position on the field appeared. There were many ways to play Cuju in the Tang Dynasty, including "Daju" where a number of goals were scored in the game, "Baiju" where a net was hung in the middle of the field, similar to net football, "Yueju" where multiple people participated in the fight, and A goal-set game in which each team has a certain number of players and a fixed position. It is stipulated that players can only play in their own positions and cannot move. At the same time, Cuju and Buddhism were spread to Japan. The usage of football as "Cuqiu" can still be seen in Japanese and Korean, which is influenced by China. [1]
The "Old Martial Arts" of the Southern Song Dynasty once listed the rosters and positions of the two teams during the "Thirty-two Players on the Ball" competition: "The left army has 16 players: Zhang Jun, the head of the ball, Qi Qi Lian, the ball king, is holding Zhu Xuan, Shi Ze is holding the head, Ding Quan is holding the left pole net, Zhang Lin is the right pole net, Hu Chun is scattered, etc.; there are 16 people in the right army: Li Zheng, the ball head, Zhu Zhen, the slingshot player. With Zhu Xuan in charge, Zhang Ning in charge, Xu Bin in Zuoganwang, Wang Yong in Youganwang, Chen Jun in Sanli, etc." This is considered the first football "starting list" in history.
From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Cuju experienced a process of development and climax. However, by the Qing Dynasty, this activity entered a decline. It is said that the Greeks and Romans played a football game before the Middle Ages. They put the ball on the white line in the middle on a rectangular field, and kicked the ball to the opponent's field with their feet. This game was called "Habastom" at the time.