2017 South American Beach Soccer League
The 2017 CONMEBOL South American Beach Soccer League was the first edition of the South American Beach Soccer League (named natively in Spanish as the "CONMEBOL Liga Sudamericana de Fútbol Playa"), a continental league competition for South American men's national beach soccer teams. Organised by the governing body for South American football, CONMEBOL, as part of its Development Department's "Evolution Program", all ten members of the continental confederation took part, with both senior and Under 20s teams participating in the league events. The teams were first divided into two geographically based zones  (North and South) to compete in a round robin tournament against other members of their own zone. The winners of each zone then proceeded to face each other in the Finals to contest the title. The regular season events took place in September 2017, whilst, due to delays, the finals did not take place until October 2018. Brazil won the league after, as North zone champions, they defeated South zone champions Paraguay in the finals. Format. The league operates under the following format: Teams. Ten nations have sent two teams each, a senior representative squad and an Under 20s representative  squad. In total, 20 teams will compete. North zone. The North zone regular season event took place in the Peruvian capital of Lima. All matches were hosted in a purpose built arena on "Agua Dulce Beach" in the district of Chorrillos, organised in cooperation with the Peruvian Football Federation. "Matches are listed as local time in Lima, PET (UTC-5)." South zone. The South zone regular season event took place in the Paraguayan city of Lambare, Gran Asunción. All matches were hosted at the Central Court of the "Resort Yacht y Golf Club Paraguayo" on the banks of Paraguay River, organised  in cooperation with the Paraguayan Football Association. The matches were originally scheduled to take place at Ñu Guasú Park in Luque. "Matches are listed as local time in Lambare, PYT (UTC-4)." Finals. The zone winners play each other for the league title; their senior teams play each other over two legs, as do their under 20s representatives for a total of four matches comprising the finals. The winners are the nation which accumulates the most points from all four matches combined. Originally, the finals were scheduled for May 2018 in Xiamen, China. However, due to a last minute decision by  the organisers, the finals were postponed on April 30 until after the 2018 FIFA World Cup. After considering the Bahamas as the new venue, and Rosario, Argentina, the finals were eventually scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 5–6 October. All matches took place at a purpose built arena at Barra Olympic Park, just outside the Olympic Tennis Centre. "Matches are listed as local time in Rio de Janeiro, BRT (UTC-3)." Winners. Brazil claimed a clean sweep in the finals, winning all four matches to win the series 12 points to nil. With an unassailable lead after  match three, the final match was played as a dead rubber. Awards. Two individual awards were presented after the last match: