Football as it is and its transition to gambling

Football is the most popular team sport in the world, the aim of which is to score more times than the opposing team can score in a given time. A football team consists of 11 players: the captain, goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and forwards. Three to seven players may be on the bench and may be used as substitutes three times during a match. The new FIFA regulations allow a fourth substitution during extra time.

Before the match starts, a toss is held (e.g. toss of a coin). The winning team decides on which side of the pitch it will play in the first half, the other team takes the kick-off.

The match starts when a player touches the ball in the centre of the circle. The game may be stopped if the tackle has gone out of bounds or if the rules of the game have been broken.

A football match lasts 90 minutes – two halves of 45 minutes each. There is a 15-minute break in between.

One of the most important figures in football is the referee because he is responsible for checking that the rules are respected during the game. Four referees are appointed for each match: the head referee, two linemen (assistant referees – their task is to record offside and assist the head referee in making decisions) and a reserve referee.

A goal is only awarded if the ball has completely crossed the goal line between the goal posts. The players must not infringe the Laws of the Game.

Ball games have developed independently of each other across different cultures. The Chinese game of kuju resembled modern football. Players could use any part of their body other than their arms to hit the projectile through a hole in the net. Similar pastimes existed in Japan, Korea, ancient Greece and Rome, North America and so on. 

Football became really popular in the XIX century in England. At that time it was practised mainly in colleges, but there were already attempts to establish the first rules of the game. By the end of the 19th century it had become so widespread that the number of Football Association clubs exceeded a hundred. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), the governing body of the sport, was founded in Paris in 1904. All world football tournaments, including the World Cup, are held under its aegis. The original members were Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. In 1930 Uruguay became the first Uruguayans to win the FIFA World Cup. This marked the beginning of a new era in the history of football. Football has a whole system of competitions at different levels, but the most important among them is the FIFA World Cup.

The UEFA Champions League is an annual international football tournament for top division clubs in Europe, where it is considered the most prestigious. The record for most titles won is held by Real Madrid, who have won the tournament 13 times.

It is currently considered the most popular game in the world. Thus, according to a FIFA survey, more than 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football. It also has the largest sports TV audience on the planet.

Football is probably the most popular sport in the world with a huge fan base.  That is why many fans enjoy playing online football-themed games in online casino, and with online betting, players can bet on their favourite teams and win big sums if they make the right predictions.

Online casino services are attracting more and more interest from players. Increasingly, the gambling offered by modern online casinos is seen as an interesting and highly remunerative alternative to sports betting. Unlike the latter, casino games are more predictable and there is definitely more of a strategic element to them. The nature of the game itself is also significantly different. It is much less common for players to lose all or most of their money.

Football fans will be happy to know that reputable online casinos now increasingly include football-themed slots in their offerings.