Courtesy: The AFC.com


Idea of annual Futsal Club C’ship well received

Monday, 22 November 2010

Kuala Lumpur: The AFC Futsal Committee met on Monday with Junji Ogura in the chair and discussed the organisation of the AFC Futsal Club Championship on an annual basis to boost the popularity of the sport in Asia.

The meeting started with Ogura congratulating Iranian teams on winning the AFC Futsal Championship 2010 as well as the AFC Futsal Club Championship 2010, which was won by Foolad Mahan Sepahan.

“It has been a busy year for futsal and I want to congratulate Iran for winning both the futsal titles,” said Ogura.

AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam thanked Ogura for his dedication to futsal.

“I want to thank the chairman personally for leading this committee for the last four years. None of our achievements would have been possible without your dedication and strong leadership,” said Bin Hammam, who credited Ogura’s efforts with making futsal popular in Asia.

The AFC chief said he was keen to see futsal being embraced by women and youth in a further fillip to the sport.

The AFC Futsal Club Championship is currently held once in two years and if the proposal is adopted then it will be held every year from 2012, in a major boost to futsal across the continent. The members unanimously welcomed the idea, saying it would provide an international platform for the players, and agreed to discuss the modalities further in the next meeting.

The committee was also informed about the entries for the AFC Futsal Championship 2012 (Qualifiers).

In the West zone, there are eight teams: Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria , Palestine, Qatar and UAE. The east zone comprises seven teams: China PR, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea PR, Macau and Mongolia. In Asean, there are eight teams: Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. South and Central will see six qualifiers - IR Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The best top three teams from each zone will qualify for the final round

IR Iran, Uzbekistan, Japan and the hosts (who are yet to be identified) automatically qualify for the finals.

Four countries - IR Iran, Uzbekistan, Thailand and UAE – have applied to host the finals and the decision will be taken after inspection visits.

Ogura informed the committee that the number of teams in the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012 has been increased from 20 to 24 teams and Asia was now guaranteed four berths in addition to hosts Thailand, making a total of five slots.

The top four teams in the AFC Futsal Championship 2012 will qualify for the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012. If Thailand finish in the top four, the next best team will play in the world showcase.

All decisions of the AFC Futsal Committee need to be ratified by the AFC Executive Committee, which meets on Wednesday, to take effect.


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