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ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: An increasingly popular modality is futsal; with increased popularity, the number of adolescents practicing such sport is also increasing and, as consequence, related injuries are also increasing, becoming object of interest of healthcare professionals. This study aimed at comparing signs and symptoms in adolescents practicing and not practicing futsal, to suggest positivity for patellar chondromalacia. METHODS: To detect patellar chondromalacia, history and physical evaluation (Perkin, lateral patellar shift, Waldron, patellar apprehension and Clarke's signal) were performed. RESULTS: Participated in the study 88 individuals, being 44 futsal practitioners and 44 non-practitioners. In the practitioners group, 54.5% have reported knee pain versus 34.1% of non-practitioners. The crossing of clinical signs with pain has shown statistically significant values: Perkin test (p=0.030), Waldron test (p=0.030) for practitioners and Perkin (p=0.002), lateral patellar shift (p=0.020) and Clarke's signal (p=0.014) for non-practitioners. CONCLUSION: This study has shown more positivity of clinical tests for patellar chondromalacia in non-practitioners of futsal, however practitioners had lower frequency of positivity, except for Clarke's signal. In addition, pain was more frequent in the practitioners group.