Courtesy: FAI.ie


Clubs prepare for Futsal League of Ireland Finals

Wednesday, 04 March 2009

A place in the UEFA Futsal Cup 2009 will be up for grabs this weekend as eight clubs take part in the Futsal League of Ireland Finals. The National Basketball Arena in Tallaght will play host to a weekend of top Futsal action, with the four Quarter Finals to be played on Saturday ahead of the Semi Finals and Final on Sunday. The overall winner will go on to represent Ireland in the 2009 UEFA Futsal Cup, as well as winning a prize fund of €10,000.

Having qualified from the group stages, which were divided into Leinster, Munster and North-West divisions, eight clubs will attempt to follow in the footsteps of Shamrock Rovers (2007) and St. Patrick’s Athletic (2008) by being crowned Futsal League of Ireland champions.

Dundalk, Wexford Youths, St. Patrick’s Athletic and Bray Wanderers all qualified from the Leinster section, while Derry City and Finn Harps qualified from the North-West division, and Cork City and Salthill Devon qualified from the Munster division.

FAI Futsal Coordinator Derek O’Neill is looking forward to an exciting weekend:
“I am sure that our supporters are in for a treat this weekend when they see up close the speed, fitness and technical quality required to compete in this exciting form of football. It’s impossible for any fan to become bored with watching Futsal as the action rapidly moves from end to end with spectacular goalmouth action being the order of the day.

“Futsal is pure football played at an explosive pace and peppered with moments of sheer technical magic. It’s end to end action which never lets up for the entire game and I am sure supporters will be impressed with the skill levels of the players. Hopefully, this competition will whet the appetite of more players and teams and ignite the interest of more leagues and clubs countrywide and encourage them to embrace the game which if properly nurtured will have a profound effect on the future development of young Irish players.”

This will be the second top class Futsal event to be held in the National Basketball Arena in recent weeks. Two weeks ago the venue hosted the first ever international Futsal competition to be held in Ireland when Cyprus, England and Kazakhstan joined the Republic of Ireland in the preliminary qualifying round of the UEFA Futsal Championship.

The Republic of Ireland finished the group tied on three points with both England and Cyprus, with Kazakhstan justifying their tag as pre-tournament favourites by qualifying for the next stage.

Highlights of the Republic of Ireland v England game will be shown on RTE Two’s OB Sport this Saturday, March 7th, at 2.20pm.

For more information go to www.loi.ie







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com