Editing Association football (section)

=== Ancient precursors ===
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| footer      = On the left, an {{Transliteration|el|[[episkyros]]}} player on an ancient [[stone carving]], {{Circa|375–400 BCE}}, exhibited at the [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]];<ref name="NAMA">Item [http://www.namuseum.gr/collections/sculpture/classical/classic12-en.html (NAMA) 873] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722061112/http://www.namuseum.gr/collections/sculpture/classical/classic12-en.html |date=22 July 2016}} displayed at the [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]]</ref> on the right, children playing {{Transliteration|zh|[[cuju]]}} in [[Song dynasty]] China, 12th century
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Kicking ball games arose independently multiple times across multiple cultures.{{efn|See [[Football#Early history]] for more information.}} The Chinese competitive game ''{{Transliteration|zh|[[cuju]]}}'' ({{lang|zh|蹴鞠}}, literally "kickball"; also known as ''tsu chu'') resembles modern association football as well as a mix of [[basketball]] and [[volleyball]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Origins of Cuju in China |url=https://www.fifamuseum.com/en/blog-stories/editorial/origins-cuju-in-china/ |website=www.fifamuseum.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113165551/https://www.fifamuseum.com/en/blog-stories/editorial/origins-cuju-in-china/ |archive-date=13 January 2023 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sports |url=https://www.britannica.com/sports/sports|access-date=20 April 2021 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417001059/https://www.britannica.com/sports/sports|url-status=live}}</ref> This is the earliest form of a kicking game for which there is historical evidence. The game was first recorded as in exercise in the [[Zhan Guo Ce]], a military history from the [[Han dynasty]].<ref name="fifa.com" /> ''{{Transliteration|zh|Cuju}}'' players would pass the ball around, having to avoid it touching the ground at any point. It was then passed to a designated player, who attempted to kick it through the ''fengliu yan'', a circular goal atop 10–11 meter poles.<ref name="auto"/> During the [[Han dynasty]] (206 BCE – 220 CE), ''{{Transliteration|zh|cuju}}'' games were standardised and rules were established.<ref name="abd">{{cite book |last=Murray |first=Scott |title=Football For Dummies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DPCNO4qIz4C&pg=PT33 |year=2010 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-66440-7 |pages=33–|access-date=20 April 2021|archive-date=20 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420121408/https://books.google.com/books?id=7DPCNO4qIz4C&pg=PT33|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Silk Road]] facilitated the transmission of ''cuju'' outside of China, especially the form of the game popular in the [[Tang dynasty]], the period when the [[inflatable]] ball was invented and replaced the stuffed ball.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Lin |title=Chinese Ju and World Football |journal=Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research |date=2018 |volume=120 |pages=276–281}}</ref> Other East Asian games include ''{{Transliteration|ja|hepburn|[[kemari]]}}'' in Japan and ''{{Transliteration|ko|chuk-guk}}'' in Korea, both influenced by ''cuju''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who-we-are/the-game/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150803040639/http://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who-we-are/the-game/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 August 2015 |title=History of Football – The Origins |publisher=FIFA |access-date=15 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Chadwick |editor1-first=Simon |editor2-last=Hamil |editor2-first=Sean |title=Managing Football: An International Perspective |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |location=London |page=458 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aTYtBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA458 |isbn=978-1-136-43763-2 |access-date=30 May 2018 |archive-date=20 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120044852/https://books.google.com/books?id=aTYtBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA458 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''{{Transliteration|ja|hepburn|Kemari}}'' originated after the year 600 during the [[Asuka period]]. It was a ceremonial rather than a competitive game, and involved the kicking of a ''mari'', a ball made of animal skin.<ref name="histbleacher">{{cite web |title=History of Football, Part 2: The Aztec and The Oriental Version of the Game |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/117189-history-of-football-part-2-the-aztec-and-the-oriental-version-of-the-game |date=29 January 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230219230403/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/117189-history-of-football-part-2-the-aztec-and-the-oriental-version-of-the-game |archive-date=19 February 2023 |work=[[Bleacher Report]] |last= |first=}}</ref> In North America, {{lang|alg|[[pasuckuakohowog]]}} was a ball game played by the [[Algonquians]]; it was described as "almost identical to the kind of folk football being played in Europe at the same time, in which the ball was kicked through goals".<ref name="roberts">{{Cite book |first=Mike |last=Roberts |title=The same old game: the true story of the ancient origins of football |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1022073321 |isbn=978-1-4610-9319-0 |location=Barcelona |publisher=RobertsBCN Publications |chapter=Little Brothers of War Ball games in Pre-Colombian North America |date=13 April 2011 |oclc=1022073321 |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-date=12 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212044127/https://www.worldcat.org/title/same-old-game-the-true-story-of-the-ancient-origins-of-football/oclc/1022073321 |url-status=live}}</ref>

''{{Transliteration|el|Phaininda}}'' and ''{{Transliteration|el|[[episkyros]]}}'' were [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] ball games.<ref name="fifa.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/the-game/origins.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225025856/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/the-game/origins.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 December 2012 |title=Classic Football History of the Game |publisher=FIFA |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A gripping Greek derby |url=https://www.fifa.com/news/gripping-greek-derby-2026693-x1038 |date=8 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102061040/https://www.fifa.com/news/gripping-greek-derby-2026693-x1038|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 November 2020|access-date=30 October 2020 |website=FIFA}}</ref> An image of an ''{{Transliteration|el|episkyros}}'' player depicted in low [[relief]] on a [[stele]] of {{Circa|375–400 BCE}} in the [[National Archaeological Museum of Athens]]<ref name="NAMA" /> appears on the [[UEFA European Championship]] trophy.<ref name="bangkokpost">{{cite news |url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/413747/ |title=Fury as FIFA finds a field of dreams in China |date=5 June 2014 |newspaper=Bangkok Post|access-date=19 June 2014|archive-date=18 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318182156/https://www.bangkokpost.com/ajax/_getLikeUnlike.php|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Athenaeus]], writing in 228 CE, mentions the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] ball game ''{{lang|la|[[harpastum]]}}''. ''{{Transliteration|el|Phaininda, episkyros}}'' and ''{{lang|la|harpastum}}'' were played involving hands and violence. They all appear to have resembled [[rugby football]], [[wrestling]], and volleyball more than what is recognisable as modern football.<ref name="abd" /><ref>Nigel Wilson, ''Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece'', Routledge, 2005, p. 310</ref><ref>Nigel M. Kennell, ''The Gymnasium of Virtue: Education and Culture in Ancient Sparta (Studies in the History of Greece and Rome)'', The University of North Carolina Press, 1995, on [https://books.google.com/books?id=u_eAP7wN5XUC&q=episkuros+rugby&pg=PA61 Google Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205233056/https://books.google.com/books?id=u_eAP7wN5XUC&pg=PA61&cd=16#v=onepage&q=episkuros%20rugby |date=5 December 2016}}</ref><ref>Steve Craig, ''Sports and Games of the Ancients: (Sports and Games Through History)'', Greenwood, 2002, on [https://books.google.com/books?id=KKlSSRq-P2QC&q=phaininda+rugby&pg=PA104 Google Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206085821/https://books.google.com/books?id=KKlSSRq-P2QC&pg=PA104&cd=2#v=onepage&q=phaininda%20rugby |date=6 December 2016}}</ref><ref>Don Nardo, ''Greek and Roman Sport'', Greenhaven Press, 1999, p. 83</ref><ref>Sally E. D. Wilkins, ''Sports and games of medieval cultures'', Greenwood, 2002, on [https://books.google.com/books?id=IyFHvy-SCIYC&q=episkuros+rugby&pg=PA214 Google books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206054412/https://books.google.com/books?id=IyFHvy-SCIYC&pg=PA214&cd=2#v=onepage&q=episkuros%20rugby |date=6 December 2016}}</ref>