Courtesy: www.concacaf.com

2004 CONCACAF Futsal Final Round Qualifiers moved to Costa Rica

The CONCACAF Executive Committee approved today the relocation of the 2004 Futsal Final Round Qualifier to Costa Rica.
The qualifying tournament was originally scheduled to take place in Guatemala, but the Federación de Fútbol de Guatemala advised CONCACAF that, due to circumstances beyond their control, they were unable to host the event.

Costa Rica will once again stage the eight-team CONCACAF Futsal Final Round competition that must be completed by 31 July 2004 and will qualify two nations to the FIFA World Championship later in the year in Chinese Taipei.

CONCACAF has staged two Futsal qualifiers for the FIFA World Championships in 1996 and 2000. Six teams participated in the 1996 CONCACAF event in Guatemala that was won by the USA.
Four years later, eight squads took part in the tournament in Costa Rica, which was claimed by the host.

For the 2004 event, 19 National Associations have submitted their applications to compete in the CONCACAF Futsal qualifying rounds, with its preliminary zonal competitions slated to run from 1 March – 30 April 2004. This number of applicants is an increase of doubled the number of participants in the qualifiers four years ago. At the conclusion of the 2004 preliminary qualifying stage, seven teams will join Costa Rica in CONCACAF Final Round.

“After a successful FIFA World Championship three years ago (Guatemala) and the recently completed (FIFA GOAL) Futsal Courses conducted in the CONCACAF Region, the sport has rapidly grown among our National Associations and the result is shown as the number of teams wanting to compete in the upcoming CONCACAF qualifiers,” said CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer.

Confirmed (19 of 40) National Associations for 2004 CONCACAF Futsal Qualification
Canada
Costa Rica *
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Netherlands Antilles
Puerto Rico
St. Vincent & The Grenadines
Suriname
Turks & Caicos Islands
USA
US Virgin Islands

* Final Round Host