Courtesy: Bru Direct


Brunei Disqualified From AFC Futsal Championship

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei Darussalam has been disqualified from the AFC Futsal Championship 2010 (Asean zone) qualifiers which will take place on Feb 20 in at Jakarta, Indonesia following FIFA's continued suspension of the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (BAFA).

According to the website www.theafc.com, the disqualification was due to BAFA suspension by world football governing body FIFA in September 2009 because of government interference in the affairs of the AFC Member Association.

In an interview with Hj Mohd Yunos Hj Mohd Yusop, the chairman of Brunei Darussalam National Futsal Committee: "The Brunei Futsal team was put in the draw last year based on the country's ranking before the BAFA suspension was announced."

"Although, Brunei Darussalam cannot take part in AFC or FIFA tournament at the moment, the country's futsal team continued to train hard in case there is a turnaround to allow Brunei to take part in international tournaments," he expressed.

He also revealed that the committee is currently in the pipeline of setting up a National Futsal League which is expected to start by April this year. The league will serve as a platform to select potential players for the national squad.

On any chances of playing outside the country, he said: "We may join the Malaysia Sukma Games 2010 starting May 28 and also the BIMP-EAGA Games in December to be held in the Philippines." With Brunei's disqualification, Group A will only consist of Australia, Indonesia and Myanmar to fight for qualification while in Group B are Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.

The top three teams from the Asean zone go through to the finals, which will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in May this year.



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