Courtesy: UEFA.com


Hungary taking futsal nationwide

Monday 30 November 2009

by Paul Saffer

The UEFA European Futsal Championship final in Hungary is now just two months away and tournament director István Huszár is looking forward to the unique chance to take the sport to a wider audience between 19 and 30 January.

Bigger tournament
For the first time, 12 teams are involved in the finals, and instead of the previous one-city arrangement, Budapest and Debrecen will both stage matches. The chance to take the tournament nationwide, and the qualification of so many of Hungary's neighbours, will give the tournament extra spice according to Huszár.

Support
"This is the first European finals organised in two cities, up to now there has been only one," Huszár told uefa.com. "In my opinion, this is a good idea. We can involve not just one city, but the whole country. And our neighbours are here too, we have the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovenia. The Slovenian Futsal Federation said to me that when they come to play in Budapest, they will organise several buses to bring fans. I hope Serbia do this as well, and Ukraine maybe. The Czech Republic always have many fans."

Promotion
Hungary are competing in the finals for only the second time, but are a rising force in the European game and Huszár believes January's competition could help the sport make a breakthrough in his nation. "Futsal is a growing sport in Hungary, and all of Europe," he said. "Results are important, but most important is that we can show off futsal in Hungary. Futsal is a small sport in Hungary. We have about 2,000 registered players. And step by step, it gets more famous in Hungary. We want to show people futsal. That is the most important thing to us."

Tickets for the finals from 19-30 January are now on sale. Click here for details.







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