Courtesy: Daily Express


Looking to make futsal a more competitive sport

Friday, February 25, 2011

Kota Kinabalu: Futsal developments will soon take a turn for the better as efforts are underway to develop the sport further to make it a more competitive sport in this State.

Sabah FA Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee Chairman, Yamani Hafez Datuk Seri Aman said that despite frequent futsal competitions being held throughout the State, development efforts need to be taken one step further if plans to make futsal a more competitive sport is to materialise.

Although futsal is hugely popular in Sabah and in Malaysia in general, a majority of those who play the game take up the sport only as a social event.

The general conception about the sport is positive in all aspects but the fact that most people actually play the game simply for the fun of it makes it more of a social activity, unlike football which generates huge revenues and creates plenty of job opportunities.

"What we hope for is that maybe futsal can one day become as big as football. There is huge potential for development in this sport, mainly because of its popularity among the people and that is why we, the Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee, want to see this happen for futsal here in Sabah," said Yamani Hafez.

He told reporters this at a press conference after launching the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Futsal Basic Coaching Course at the Sabah FA office here, yesterday.

The course is among some of the development efforts that have been identified by the committee to help carry the sport to higher levels.

"Courses such as this are very important in providing exposure to coaches and individuals who are interested in a coaching profession," said Hafez Meanwhile, according to Gopalkrisnan, futsal in Malaysia has no league yet, unlike football.

"There is a league in Selangor and one in Kuala Lumpur but they are isolated. What FAM is working towards the development of a full-fledged National League."

FAM currently has two levels for its futsal coaching course, Level 1, which is an introductory course and a more detailed programme which is the Level 2.

Apart from the coaching course, the Sabah FA Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee is also organising tournaments for the more serious futsal teams in the State.

The Inter-Zone Championship, which was held last year is scheduled for April 20-24 this year.

Prior to that will be the Inter-District competition, which would be held from March 30- April 3.

These two tournaments (venues to be determined on a later date) would act as a selection platform for the National Futsal League, which is in May this year.

Also present were FAM Head of Coaching Education, Gopalkrisnan Ramasamy and Sabah FA Executive Secretary, Hasbullah Yahya, among others.

The four-day course (Feb 24-27), which is being conducted by Gopalkrisnan, received 61 registrations but only 41 turned up for the first day.


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