From the realization of the Mundialito in 1994 - the first international event transmitted on television - 12 years have passed. The rules created and implanted by Koch Tavares to stimulate fair play and the scoring a great number of goals, made every match a dynamic and emotional spectacle. The formula created by Koch Tavares in partnership with Rede Globo ensured that in 2005, FIFA announced that it was extending its jurisdiction to beach soccer. The first event under the guidance of the entity was the Beach Soccer World Cup of which took place in the birthplace of the sport, Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro in May of the very same year.

In 1994, Koch Tavares and Rede Globo collaborated to bring the public a sporting event and give businesses a new merchandising option: beach soccer. Mixing two national passions - soccer and the beach - beach soccer was a success since its inception, and not just in Brazil.

Events realized outside of Brazil - Japan, Monte Carlo, Portugal - under the supervision of Koch Tavares brought thousands of people to the stands.

Aiming to attract the attention of the public to this new sporting event, Koch Tavares and Rede Globo met with, initially, idols of soccer that transferred their prestige and experience on the grass to the sand. This was the case with many players who competed with the Brazilian National Team for the World Cup in various years such as Júnior (82 and 86); Paulo Sérgio (82); Edinho (78, 82 and 86) and Zico (78, 82 and 86). The novelty of beach soccer attracted large national ambassadors such as the the Brazilians Romário, Júnior, Jairzinho, Claudio Adão, Branco and Careca; the Italians Gentile, Altobelli and Massaro; the Uruguayans Ruben Paz, Venâncio Ramos and Rodolfo Rodriguez; the Frenchmen Didier Six; Amoros and Cantona; the Spaniards Michel and Butragueño and the Portuguese Nunes and Hernani, that disputed various titles.

Laws of the Game
The rules of beach soccer were created with a dynamic format, aiming to reward individual ability, valorize fair play between the athletes and stimulate goal scoring. The matches have 3 periods of 12 minutes with intervals of 3 minutes in between for a total of approximately 45 minutes. In beach soccer ties do not exist: if at the end of the 3rd period there is a tie there is a 3 minute overtime. If the tie still exists, an alternating series of penalties are taken to determine the winner.

The setting
An event derived from the most popular sport in the world, beach soccer matches take place in settings that are naturally attractive: some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. But, this is not an obligatory prerequisite. In Brazil, Koch Tavares has promoted events in the Jockey Club of São Paulo, Villa-Lobos Park, also in São Paulo, and in Costa da Sauípe (Bahia), constructing temporary installations specifically for the competitions. It is necessary, however, to respect some of the requirements of sand such as the quantity in cm³, granulation and depth of the box where the court will be mounted aiming at the security of the athletes and the maintenance of the natural characteristics of beach soccer.

The success of beach soccer
For the 2nd World Championship in 1996, FIFA was already attentive to the rise of beach soccer. Joseph Blattter, then FIFA General Secretary, came to Brazil and gave to the Brazilian team the trophy for their two-time championship.

The initial success of the World Championships raised commercial interest to the level of sport development. This provided favorable conditions to launch the Pro Beach Soccer in Barcelona.

Starting then, The Professional League of Beach Soccer (96) and the European League (98) were created with a solid infrastructure that brought a new professionalism to the sport at all levels.

The union between Octagon Koch Tavares and Pro Beach Soccer to form just one entity was inevitable and thus Beach Soccer WorldWide (BSWW) was born. Its objective was to unite the main BS tournaments throughout the world under an umbrella structure and to provide the sole representation of thesport to major sponsors, the media and FIFA.

Nowadays, almost a hundred countries from six FIFA confederations are actively involved with beach soccer, with more than 70 thousand players in Europe alone.



The apex: FIFA World Cup 2005
The maximum that a sport can reach is the recognition of the governing entity. This happened with beach soccer in 2005, when it became part of the FIFA family, which gave undisputable legitimacy and prominence to the sport, while preserving its spontaneity and pleasure.

The FIFA World Cup happened on May on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro with enormous success, marked by the presence of the general secretary of the entity, Mr. Urs Linsi.

Twelve teams from five continents fought for the honor of being the first champions of the World Cup and Brazil entered as the favorite. However, the country that took home the title of the competition was France. Portugal finished in second and Brazil took home third place.