Angola aims to launch the first professional futsal league in Africa

Today’s interview is with Mr. Dino Paulo, a board advisor to the Angolan Futsal Federation who has recently announced his intentions to run for the Presidency of the Angolan Football Federation. Dino, there is a lack of awareness about futsal in Angola and futsal in Africa in general. However, this interview is to learn about the sport’s history in Angola, how popular the sport is and what the future holds for the sport’s development in your country.

Futsal Focus: How long has futsal been played in Angola and who introduced the sport to your country?

Dino: I am not sure who exactly is ‘responsible’ for bringing futsal to Angola but it has been played here since the colonial era. However, it grew in participation during the independence era as a sport played within companies for workers’ entertainment and began to grow as corporation competition. From that stage, futsal awareness spread as a sport in neighbourhoods, schools and amateur competitions began to be organized. Therefore, it started to become a popular sport in Angola especially due to the game being played in small spaces which is accessible to most communities more than grass pitches are plus the sport’s association to football helped it as well seeing as football is the main sport in Angola.

Futsal Focus: How popular is futsal in Angola, for example how many participants and clubs are there from grassroots to the senior game?

Dino: Futsal is a very popular sport and from the figures, I have seen, futsal is arguably the most played sport in Angola but not at a professional or national level. Futsal is still considered a recreational or amateur sport in Angola and we are working closely with the Futsal Federation in order to grow the sport to a professional level.

Futsal Focus: What is the attitude in Angola to Futsal, is it seen as a development tool for football or as a sport in its own right?

Dino: Futsal in Angola is seen as a sport in its own right, for example, traditional football clubs don’t have any futsal teams, but after Angola qualified for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup the image of the sport has begun to change and now interest to start investing in futsal is growing among some of the big Angolan football clubs.

Futsal Focus: Futsal Focus saw footage of Angola’s international futsal team playing in front of a large home audience, what is the average attendance for the national team and does the domestic game attract the same amount of attention and fans?

Dino: The futsal community in Angola is big and attracts many people when there is a national team or big domestic futsal team games due to two reasons; the first being the quality of the players and the second being the tickets are cheap and at times free. An example of the attendance at games for the national team (who play their home matches at the Cidadela Indoor Arena, the national venue, which holds about 6,800 people) was 5000 fans in attendance for their last match! Example of national team playing at home below: