Courtesy: Gulf News


Dubai and Sharjah to host AFC Futsal Championship in May

Champions Iran will face 15 teams including hosts UAE

by Alaric Gomes

December 9, 2011

Dubai: Dubai and Sharjah will be joint hosts for the 2012 AFC Futsal Championships to be held in the UAE from May 18 to 25.

"This tournament will be perhaps the biggest challenge that we face since we forged an alliance," Ahmad Nasser Al Fardan, Secretary General, Sharjah Sports Council (SSC), said at the announcement yesterday.

"We have been continuously cooperating with Dubai at various events, and by far this is the biggest one. We can only learn from the people at the Dubai Sports Council as they have a solid history in organising many top-class sporting events in the past."

The Sports Councils of the two emirates had tabled a joint bid for the continental tournament before the AFC Futsal Committee that met in Doha earlier this year.

The joint bid was a continuation of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two sports councils earlier this year to involve each other in the development of sports at all levels.

"It is a win-win situation for both and sports will be the ultimate winner," Dr Ahmad Sa'ad Al Sharif, Secretary General, DSC, said.

During the course of the 2012 AFC Futsal Championship, multiple champions Iran will come up against another 15 teams, including hosts UAE, to attempt a podium finish and along with it a ticket for the 2012 Fifa Futsal Championships to be held in Thailand in November.

Iran have won almost every edition of the Asian Futsal Championship. They are currently the sixth strongest team in the world, as per the most recent Futsal World Ranking.


West Zone qualifiers
While the UAE qualify as hosts, another nine sides including Iran and Uzbekistan — who will take their places in the tournament as defending champions and runners-up — along with Japan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Korea, China and Chinese Taipei will also take part.

The remaining six teams will be decided after the West Zone qualifiers are held from December 9 to 16 and the Asean Zone qualifiers — postponed due to the flooding in Thailand — are played from February 21 to 26.

For next year's Fifa Futsal World Cup, the AFC has an allocation of four spots. However, if Thailand is one of the teams finishing among the top four in Dubai, then Asia will have five teams as Thailand automatically qualify as the hosts.




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