Courtesy: UEFA.com


Futsal Cup contenders prepare for draw

Friday 26 June 2009

by Paul Saffer

The ninth edition of the UEFA Futsal Cup gets into gear when the draw for the 2009/10 Preliminary and Main rounds are made at 13.30CET on Thursday in Nyon.

Preliminary round
A record 48 teams are involved in this season's competition, and 27 will begin in the Preliminary round, including the first-ever entrants from Norway and Turkey, Nidaros Futsal and Gazi Üniversitesi respectively. Each side will be placed in one of four seeding categories depending on their coefficient, with one going into every group, which will also contain a team designated as mini-tournament hosts: Bulgaria's MFC Varna, Lithuania's Nautara Kaunas, Golden Futsal Team of Finland, MNK Leotar Trebinje from Bosnia-Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia's KMF Zelezarec Skopje, Cypriot champions AC Omonia and 1. FC Allstars Wiener Neustadt representing Austria.

Charleroi at home
Seven group winners from this stage, played from 15 to 23 August, will join 17 other sides in the Main round, consisting of six pools of four teams. Again there will be one team in each group from four seeding categories, with 2005 winners Action 21 Charleroi of Belgium joining Romania's CIP Deva, Czech side FK Era-Pack Chrudim, Croatia's MNK Potpićan 98, Slovenian team KMN Puntar, and Hungarian champions MVFC Berettyóújfalu as mini-tournament hosts between 26 September and 4 October.

Portuguese race
One seeding position is still to be settled as SL Benfica and CF Os Belenses are in the middle of the Portuguese league play-off final. Benfica, the 2003/04 runners-up, would be in the top tier as they have a higher coefficient than Belenses, who would be making their competition debut and would go into the second grouping. Iberia 2003 Tbilisi, the only team to have entered every UEFA Futsal Cup edition, would fill the vacant position.

Finals chance
As in previous years, the winners and runners-up from the Main round groups will progress to the Elite round draw on 13 October, alongside top four seeds: holders Interviú Madrid, 2008 winners MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, that season's runners-up ElPozo Murcia FS and Kairat Almaty, semi-finalists for three of the last four years. Four Elite round mini-tournaments will be played from 14 to 22 November, with the group winners progressing to the finals, hosted by one of the qualifiers in late April.

2009/10 UEFA Futsal Cup ranking list

-> Preliminary/Main round draw: 2 July
-> Elite round: 14-22 November (4 teams + 12 to qualify, draw 13 October)

Rank - Country - Club - Pot
1 - ESP (holders) - Interviú Madrid - bye
2 - RUS - MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg - bye
3 - ESP - ElPozo Murcia FS - bye
4 - KAZ - Kairat Almaty - bye

-> Main round: 26 September-4 October (17 teams + 7 to qualify) – host club in bold
-> Pot 3 will also include one Preliminary round winner
-> Pot 4 will include six Preliminary round winners

Seed - Country - Club - Pot
1 - BEL - Charleroi Action 21 - 5
1 - AZE - Araz Naxçivan - 1
1 - ITA - Luparense C/5 - 1
1 - ROU - CIP Deva - 5
1/2 - POR - SL Benfica/CF Os Belenses* - 1/2
1 - CZE - FK Era-Pack Chrudim - 5
2/1 - GEO - Iberia 2003 Tbilisi* - 2/1
2 - UKR - FC Taim Lvov - 2
2 - SWE - Skövde AIK - 2
2 - CRO - MNK Potpićan 98 - 5
2 - BLR - Viten Orsha - 3
2 - POL - Hurtapu Lęczyc - 3
3 - SRB - KMF Kolubara Lazarevac - 3
3 - SVN - KMN Puntar - 5
3 - NED - FC Marlène - 3
3 - GRE - Athina '90 - 3
3 - HUN - MVFC Berettyóújfalu - 5

-> Preliminary round: 15-23 August (27 teams) – host club in bold

Seed - Country - Club - Pot
1 - SVK - RCS Košice - 6
1 - ISR - ASA Tel-Aviv - 6
1 - BUL - MFC Varna - 10
1 - MNE - Montenegro Stars Budva - 6
1 - LVA - FK Nikars Riga - 6
1 - LTU - Nautara Kaunas - 10
1 - FRA - Roubaix Futsal - 6
2 - FIN - Golden Futsal Team - 10
2 - MDA - SC Tornado Chisinau - 7
2 - ALB - KF Tirana - 7
2 - BIH - KMF Leotar Trebinje - 10
2 - MKD - KMF Zelezarec Skopje - 10
2 - ARM - Erebuni Yerevan - 8
2 - CYP - AC Omonia - 10
3 - AUT - 1. FC Allstars Wiener Neustadt - 10
3 - SUI - FC Seefeld Zürich - 8
3 - GER - Futsal Panthers Köln - 8
3 - AND - FC Madriu - 8
3 - IRL - Cork City FC - 8
3 - DEN - Futsal BGA - 8
3 - SCO - Fair City Santos - 8
4 - ENG - Helvecia Futsal - 9
4 - EST - Sillamäe JK - 9
4 - MLT - White Eagles FC - 9
4 - TUR - Gazi Üniversitesi - 9
4 - NOR - Nidaros Futsal - 9
4 - ISL - Hvöt - 9

*If Benfica win Portuguese title they will be in Pot 1 and Iberia in Pot 2, if Belenses win Portuguese title they will be in Pot 2 and Iberia in Pot 1.






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