The most brutal sport on Earth? . . . Dating back over 500 years the Calcio Storico ("historic football") is an early form of football and rugby and remains one of the best-known and most violent Italian traditions. The annual tournament is competed between four teams, Bianchi, Rossi, Verdi and Blu, representing the neighborhoods of Florence, and is still played in the same Florentine Piazza it is thought to have started in. This brutal combination of rugby, football, and wrestling has few rules, fighting is allowed but kicks to the head are forbidden. A match lasts 50 minutes, and the playing field is a giant sand pit with a narrow slit constituting the 'goal' running the width of each end. The eventual winners are honoured with a cow | June 16, 2019 | 📷: antoniomasiello_ | #GettySport #calciostorico calciostoricofiorentino