Teqball launched in South Africa

14 April 2021

Local football hero and former goalkeeper for South Africa’s national football team, Brian Baloyi will head the local Teqball Federation. The launch at the Embassy of Hungary in Pretoria, South Africa showcased this ball sport played on a curved table with a football. The game was invented in Hungary in 2012 by three football enthusiasts: former professional player Gábor Borsányi , Hungarian businessman György Gattyán and computer scientist Viktor Huszár.

Combining elements of football and table tennis, the gender neutral game can be played by two or four players and requires ball control skills, agility, hand eye coordination and balance. The football can be controlled with any part of the body except arms and hands. The rules are simple, 3 touches once over the net and 12 points in a basic combination of football, table tennis and volleyball.

The game has grown in popularity as the requirements of the sport including equipment and space are minimal, making the game playable almost anywhere indoors and out. The game is represented at an international level by the International Federation of Teqball (FITEQ) and has 34 federations in Africa and over 130 around the world.

Mr Marius Vizer Jr, General Secretary of FITEQ was excited to be in South Africa to support the launch. He explained that the recognition of the sport by the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) paved the way for the federation to be granted full membership of the Global Association of International Sport Federations (GAISF). The goal is for the sport to be included in the Olympic Games.

Mr Attila Horváth, Hungary’s Ambassador to South Africa looks forward to supporting the South African Federation to promote the game in the country and grow its popularity. He remarked on the suitability of the game for schools and other institutes of learning and its benefit for fitness and overall wellness and health at the launch which took place on 8 April at the Embassy of Hungary in Pretoria, South Africa.