We’re top footballers but we’re allowed to use our hands and play half-naked…our footwear is also VERY different

A TYPE of football that is played at the bottom of a swimming pool is now seen as an emerging sport in North America.

The players wear fins rather than football boots and spend most of their time swimming rather than running.

CBC NewsA player is tackled during a game of underwater football[/caption]

CBC NewsA player scores a goal after touching the ball down at the side of the pool[/caption]

CBC NewsKeith Peters is president of the University of Manitoba Underwater Football Club[/caption]

The objective is to pass the ball into an end zone , which is often a spot at the side of the pool.

If players want a rest or breather they must release the ball, which means they cannot be tackled.

Two teams of five players compete in the game, which is seen as a combination of underwater hockey and underwater rugby

The sport emerged as a training regime for scuba divers in the late 1960s and is now seen as an emerging if unusual sport in Canada.

Kieth Peters, president of the University of Manitoba Underwater Football Club, runs the oldest club of its type in north America.

Speaking to CBC News he explained how the training regime had now evolved into an inclusive sport played by children and pensioners.

Mr Peters explained that players could not be tackled if they do not have the ball, which allowed participants to grab a breather when they wanted.

Mr Peters said that the club had been playing the sport, which is particularly popular in Canada, since 1967.

Earlier this year Mr Peters hit out after the sport was denied recognition by governing body Sport Manitoba.

Speaking to CTV News he said: “We’re going to lose pool time. We’re not going to be able to book a pool. We’re not going to be able to run our programs. That’s a huge concern,”