Courtesy Uefa.com


Italian crown up for grabs

Wednesday, 22 October 2003

The draw for the 2005 UEFA European Futsal Championship will take place next month with all hoping to emulate defending champions Italy.

England entry
The Italians won the third official staging of the competition earlier this year, following on from the success of Russia in 1999 and Spain in 2001. UEFA will stage the draw at its headquarters on 13 November with 33 teams expected to be involved including debutants England.

Two rounds
The format for the 2005 edition will include a preliminary round for the seven bottom-ranked teams in the coefficient list. These would be divided into two groups of four and three, with the winners goinging to the next stage. This part would see seven groups of four teams, with the prize for the winners being a place in the finals.

Dates set
The dates have been set for both stages. The preliminary round will take place from 5-11 January 2004, with the qualifying round following from 26 January to 1 February.