South Africa, Guatemala and Uzbekistan Complete 12 Team Line-up for KL World 5s presented by Rakan Muda

FAM Announces Draw and Match-ups Today

26 May 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: South Africa, Guatemala and Uzbekistan have confirmed their participation in the KL World 5s, the international futsal championship presented by Malaysia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports’ Youth Program Rakan Muda. This completes the 12-team line up of the most prestigious international futsal competition in Asia. The tournament which takes place next week, is brought to KL by direct-to-home subscription-based operator Astro and Asia’s no. 1 sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports from June 3 to 8, 2003 at the Putra Indoor Stadium at Bukit Jalil.

South Africa

The South African team enhances the tournament’s already stellar list of confederations, allowing for all the major futsal continents to be represented at KL World 5s presented by Rakan Muda – Europe, Africa, South & Central America and Asia. The KL World 5s will be South Africa’s first major international tournament, and the opportunity is propitious with South Africa’s plans to launch their professional futsal league in August this year.

Guatemala

Guatemala has rich legacy in futsal having staged the most recent FIFA Futsal World Championship in 2000.. Led by one of the best futsal coaches in the world and former coach of the Caja Segovia Spanish team, Jose Venancio Lopez Hierro, the Guatemala team is as passionate about futsal as any of the South American teams - Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay – who are competing in the tournament. Although this is the first time Guatemala is participating in a tournament in Asia, the team is excited to play against their Asian counterparts as well as their old adversaries from the Americas.

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan was the Runner Up to Iran in the Asian Championship in 2001 and is consistently one of the stronger Asian teams.

Official Re-Draw Results

The field of 12 teams in the 2003 tournament include three-time world futsal champion Brazil, Asian champions Iran, current Asean Champion Thailand, current Asian Runners Up Japan, Argentina, Uruguay, Guatemala, England, South Africa, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and host country Malaysia. Concern over SARS was the reason for the changes in the team line-up and the changes prompted organizers Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and ESPN STAR Sports to carry out an official re-draw of the matches today.


Group A
Brazil
Thailand
South Africa

Group B
Argentina
Japan
Indonesia

Group C
Uruguay
Guatemala
Malaysia

Group D
Iran
Uzbekistan
England

Match ups – Group Stage

3rd June
1500 hours D1 Iran vs D2 Uzbekistan
1700 hours B2 Japan vs B3 Indonesia
1900 hours A1 Brazil vs A3 South Africa
2100 hours C3 Malaysia vs C1 Uruguay

4th June
1500 hours D3 England vs D1 Iran
1700 hours B3 Indonesia vs B1 Argentina
1900 hours C1 Uruguay vs C2 Guatemala
2100 hours A2 Thailand vs A1 Brazil

5th June
1500 hours D2 Uzbekistan vs D3 England
1700 hours A3 South Africa vs A2 Thailand
1900 hours B1 Argentina vs B2 Japan
2100 hours C2 Guatemala vs C3 Malaysia

Background on the 5s

Organised biennially and last held in Singapore in December 2001, this event is set for more frequent editions in the future with the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports, through its Rakan Muda project, supporting its staging in Kuala Lumpur in the next three years. The plan has been approved by the cabinet.

Futsal has rapidly grown in popularity in Asia due largely to the success of this tournament and the development efforts of national football associations. The growing interest has led to the mushrooming of privately run facilities within Kuala Lumpur, prompting the FAM to announce the introduction of a league. Astro and STAR Sports will broadcast over 40 hours of live and delayed broadcast of the action to cater to this growing interest.

The KL World 5s is presented and hosted by Rakan Muda, with the invaluable support of Gold Sponsor Astro, Silver Sponsors Gillette, and Star Sponsors adidas, Milo and Red Bull; and Official Hotel The Shangri-La. For ticket information, please visit www.axcess.com.my or call 603 7491 9999. In KL, ticket outlets are located at Videoezy in KLCC, Bangsar and Sungai Wang Plaza, Fantasy Music at Sunway Pyramid, Music Valley at Leisure Mall, Cheras, Info Counter at Lot 10 and Starhill, Sports Barn, Sports Unlimited, Sports Planet and MISA.

For more information or media accreditation, please contact:
Christopher Raj, Prosports at tel. no. 613 341 7491 (Malaysia)
Mai Tatoy, ESPN STAR Sports at tel. no. 65 6488 6134 (Singapore)