Courtesy: www.uefa.com


TEAMS TARGET ITALY'S CROWN

Wednesday, 12 November 2003
The draw for the preliminary and qualifying rounds of the fourth UEFA European Futsal Championship will take place on Thursday from 12.10CET at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Two debutants
In all 33 nations, including first-time entrants England and Bulgaria, have entered qualifying for the finals, which will be played in the Czech Republic in February 2005. Italy are the reigning champions having won the third edition earlier this year.

First stage
England and Bulgaria along with five other countries will compete in the preliminary round, which will take the form of two mini-tournaments. Four teams will be drawn in Group A and three in Group B, with matches to be played from 5-11 January.

Lucky seven
The winners of Group A and Group B will then join 26 other countries in the qualifying round. This stage will see the teams divided into seven groups of four for mini-tournaments played between 26 January and 1 February. The seven group winners will then join the Czech hosts in the final tournament.

FIFA draw
uefa.com will have live coverage of the draw as it happens, and an in-depth report once it has concluded. Thursday will also see the draw for the European play-offs for the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship, with ten teams waiting to hear their fate from 12.00CET.

UEFA European Futsal Championship entrants (preliminary round teams in bold)

TEAMS
Albania
Romania
Bulgaria
Armenia
Cyprus
Kazakhstan
England
Spain
Belgium
Hungary
Serbia and Montenegro
Andorra
Slovakia
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Russia
Ukraine
Portugal
Croatia
Netherlands
Slovenia
Poland
Belarus
Azerbaijan
F.Y.R. Macedonia
Israel
Greece
Moldova
Finland
France
Georgia
Latvia
Lithuania
Italy
Czech Republic (hosts)


CZECHS TO HOST MAJOR FINALS

Wednesday, 12 November 2003
The fourth edition of the UEFA European Futsal Championship will be staged by the Czech Republic in 2005.

Spectacular venue
The matches will be played at the spectacular 10,000-capacity Vitkovice Arena in the city of Ostrava. Eight nations, including the Czechs, will be involved in the finals, with the matches likely to be played between 14 and 20 February. The nearby Sareza venue will stage matches on the final day of group games, when decisive fixtures have to start at the same time.

High support
The Vitkovice Arena is in the middle of major renovation in readiness for the arrival of leading ice hockey nations taking part in the 2004 IIHF World Championship next May. Ostrava mayor Ales Zednik has given his full support to the UEFA event, for which qualifying will begin in January next year.

Proud past
Granada in Spain staged the first UEFA event in February 1999, with Russia defeating the host nation on penalties after a 3-3 draw. The next city to get the honour was Moscow, with Spain lifting the trophy in the Russian capital after a 2-1 victory against Ukraine. Earlier this year, Italy became the first hosts to claim the crown by beating Ukraine 1-0 after a tournament played in Caserta and Aversa.