Courtesy: UEFA.com


Futsal Cup new season countdown begins

Monday 18 May 2009

by Paul Saffer

The UEFA Futsal Cup was lifted at the end of last month by Interviú Madrid in Ekaterinburg, and the countdown to the 2009/10 season has begun.

Holders defend title
Next term's full lineup will not be known until Europe's futsal leagues finish over the next few weeks, though two of this season's final round competitors will be back, Interviú as holders and bronze-medallists Kairat Almaty as Kazakhstan's champions. The other two sides that competed in the showpiece stage, hosts and runners-up MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg and MFK Dinamo Moskva, are currently competing to decide Russia's berth. With six games left, Ekaterinburg have a nine-point advantage.

Calendar
There is no change to the competition format next season, with the road to the finals beginning in the Preliminary round from 15 to 23 August, with teams moving on to join further clubs entering in the Main round from 26 September to 4 October, with the draw for both stages made in Nyon on 2 July at 13.30CET, the exact numbers involved confirmed prior to that date. The top four seeds, up until then exempt, will then join 12 Main round qualifiers in the Elite round draw on 13 October. The Elite round runs from 14 to 22 November, with the four group winners entering the finals, and one of their number in principle acting as hosts on 22/23 and 24/25 April. For the first time this season, all competing players will wear UEFA Futsal Cup badges on their sleeve, as in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

To read the new regulations, click : English, French, German.

2009/10 UEFA Futsal Cup calendar
Stage -> Dates
Preliminary round/Main round draw (13.30CET, Nyon) -> 02.07.2009
Preliminary round -> 15-23.08.2009
Main round -> 26.09-04.10.2009
Elite round draw (time tbc, Nyon) -> 13.10.2009
Elite round -> 14-22.11.2009
Semi-finals draw (in finals host city) -> tbc
Semi-finals* -> 22 or 23.04.2010
Final/third-place play-off* -> 24 or 25.04.2010

*Part of one-venue UEFA Futsal Cup finals.







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