Courtesy: The Daily Star


Lebanese futsal team’s success making up for soccer losses

By Joe Soubaih

Friday, August 06, 2010

BEIRUT: Despite poor showings from the national soccer team and a domestic league constantly marred by infrastructural problems and sectarian friction, the Lebanese futsal team has provided results that far outstrip its more popular cousin.

Lebanon has been taking part in Asian futsal competitions even before a professional league was started in 2007. Results so far have been impressive, with three quarter final appearances at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Futsal Championship, an important statistic considering the semi finalists of each tournament qualifies for the World Cup.

For a team that has only had an existing league for four years, the Lebanese national futsal team has made clear strides in evolving into a force to be reckoned with, earning a world ranking of 41, as opposed to the soccer team’s 151st place in the world rankings.

The degree of the national team’s success has begun to show itself on the club level as well. Lebanon is one of only ten teams that take part in the AFC Fustal Club Championship, the biggest club competition in Asia.

Further improvements have been made in the Lebanese Futsal Federation with the growing expansion of participating teams. When the league first started four years ago, there were only 10 teams compared to the 21 teams that are expected to register for the coming season. These teams, unlike the soccer teams, are owned by private or public companies, such as the Lebanese Canadian Bank, the American University of Science and Technology, and the Internal Defense. So far, Pro’s Café is the most successful club, having won the inaugural league championship and the following two championships, as well as second place in the 2009-10 season.

As in soccer, the teams from the top division play one another twice. Home and away games are not relevant, as there are only four stadiums that are futsal recognized. After each team has played each other twice, the top four teams play a round-robin group called the playoffs, also home and away. Winners of this final four group stage are crowned Lebanese champions.

This year sees developments that aim to enhance the level of quality within the futsal league including the number of players that are registered in any of Lebanon’s four soccer divisions being limited to a maximum of three. The Federation claims that this is meant to be a transitional step, preparing for a final development in which no players registered to any soccer team in any of the four divisions are allowed to be listed in the futsal rosters.


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