The name of this sport is "Calcio Storico." Meaning "Historical Football." It is played only in Florence, Italy. Everything is allowed except hitting the head. In Calcio Storico, rugby, football, wrestling, cage fighting, boxing, in short, you can see a combination of fighting and football in this sport.

Consider Kickbox, UFC, Soccer, and Rugby combined in one sport...

Calcio Storico dates back to 1530. Teams representing the four historic districts of Florence are competing. The blue team is Santa Croce, the red team is Santa Maria Novella, the green team is San Giovanni, and the white team is Santo Spirito. Matches are played in the city's famous Santa Croce Square. 


The surrounding of the field is covered by metal bars and the floor is covered with sand.

In the matches, kicking, slapping, punching, headbutt, holding, tripping, pushing, in short everything is allowed. There are two prohibitions. First of all, you are not able to hit your opponent's head. Second, 2 or more people cannot attack 1 player.

The teams are made up of 27 people. The sides of the teams are covered by a height of one meter. The aim is to send the ball to the net, however you can. A point is awarded for each goal. If the ball passes over the net, a half score is cut off as a penalty. For example, in this year's final game, white team won with the score of 6 - 5,5.

The match lasts 50 minutes. The game does not stop during the injuries. While other footballers are trying hard to score, healthcare team enters the field and treats injured footballer. On average, 12-15 players are injured during a match.


By the way, teams can have up to two players who are not born in Florence in the squad.

Below, there is a link of a perfect example of this brutal sport:

Source: t23.com.tr and onedio