Panna is Dutch street football where subtle dribbling is worth ten times more than a goal scored.

Players play 1 against 1 on a small pitch measuring 4 x 6 metres in quick games lasting 3 minutes. The winner is the one who scores the most goals. But better still than scoring a goal is passing your opponent by dribbling the ball between his legs. A classic “gate” of this kind is the highest possible achievement and makes you the winner immediately. And this is where the origin of the name of the game is to be found: “panna” means “gate” in Surinamese.

It is more than a sport: Panna is a lifestyle.

For the youth, however, Panna is more than just a football game. Panna is a lifestyle, complete with urban clothing, street slang, hip hop music and streetwise attitudes. The trick is to impose yourself on your opponent without any sign of emotion and without losing a drop of sweat. And all of this with the ever-present pumping hip hop beat in a relaxed atmosphere.

Naturally the basis of the game is on the street. The ‘show aspect’ of street football became steadily more important for Moroccan and Surinamese players. Showing off your tricks and skills became the way of presenting yourself. Inspired by heroes such as Edgar Davids and Zidane, they trained for days, for weeks, for months looking for the ultimate trick to unseat their opponent. With, of course, the Panna as the ultimate humiliation. Scoring a Panna earns you respect and makes you a hero on the street. Suffering a Panna makes you creep under the paving stones for shame.

Dutch Championship Panna KO

Panna Knock Out ™ has been holding tournaments, freestyle shows and clinics in the Netherlands since 2004. Each year, we run around 200 tournaments as the preliminary round to the Panna Knock Out ™ Dutch Championships. As a result of this event, the Freestyler internet movies and many appearances by the players themselves, the first Panna stars were born. Guys like Hoessain Kamal, Mo Boutaka, Nelson de Kok and Ruud Bos are heroes on improvised football pitches up and down the country.

Dutch Championship 2008

Now international attention plays an important role in the creation of a heroic status for the Panna players. But at present Panna is still internationally in its infancy. In Belgium, France, United Kingdom and Swiss, however, the first small-scale competitions are being organised. Our Dutch players have such a big lead that they are hailed as stars in these international competitions.

European Championship

A European competition is currently under development, with preliminary rounds in the European countries and an annual European Championships as the final tournament. If you are interested in working with us to set up a competition like this or if you want to put on Panna Knock Out tournaments exclusively in your own country, please contact info@pannaknockout.eu.

Panna Knock Out ™ is a registered word and image mark owned by Sportservice Noord-Holland BV.