Fousek on the rise of Futsal

Courtesy UEFA.com

Wednesday, 19 November 2003

By Pete Sanderson

The fast, skilful, five-a-side cousin of conventional football, Futsal has been growing in popularity throughout Europe, and with the UEFA European Futsal Championship set to take place in February 2005, the sport will be welcoming new fans.

Futsal notable

The chairman of UEFA's Futsal Committee, Petr Fousek, will have the additional pleasure of seeing the finals played in his home country, the Czech Republic. He spoke to uefa.com after the draw was made for the preliminary and qualifying rounds in Nyon last week.

uefa.com: The draw has thrown up some strong groups – which teams do you expect to do well?

Petr Fousek: Futsal in Europe has become more and more balanced in the last few years so it is hard to say. A lot of people seem excited about Group 1 which features the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel and France. European champions Italy were also drawn against an impressive Bosnia-Herzegovina in Group 7 but every group will be tough.

uefa.com: How has Futsal developed over the last ten years?

Fousek: The last ten years have been a crucial and rewarding period in the development of Futsal. In the FIFA World Championship in 1992 we only had ten European teams competing in the qualification group - now we have 34 so there has been more than a 300 per cent improvement in participation in this continent. Add the fact there are other international teams set to join up and the future looks very healthy.

uefa.com: Has the increase in the number of teams made the sport more popular?

Fousek: Yes, it has been good for Futsal development and as a result we have seen an improvement in attendances. It all bodes well for the future - for the development of the game as a whole from attendances to attracting sponsors. The European Championship promises to be a great competition but we realise a lot still needs to be done to increase the popularity of the game - such as some hard work on the promotional side of Futsal.

uefa.com: Is it good to see big stars of professional football, like Robert Jarni, coming over to Futsal?

Fousek: Yes it is great, especially because Robert was a Croatian international. Obviously these players are already idols so it increases attendances and brings their wonderful skills to the Futsal halls. However, the game is very different from football from a technical point of view. People have to remember that it is very tough for a footballer to adapt to Futsal. Unless you are an exquisite talent you have to have been brought up on Futsal to make it at this sport - otherwise you will struggle to be implemented into the team.

uefa.com: How do you feel about UEFA's decision to stage the 2004/05 UEFA European Futsal Championship in the Czech Republic?

Fousek: We are happy that UEFA delegated this tournament to the Czech Republic. I can promise that we are already doing our best to prepare for the event. We will have a new hall which will hold 10,000 spectators and a new hotel complex so it should be a resounding success. We qualify automatically for the tournament, which will ensure our best players such as the Mareš brothers [Roman and Michal] will be there to bring in the crowds.

uefa.com: Who are the major European international teams?

Fousek: Well, Spain and Russia are both strong because they have professional leagues. Other sides who are becoming very strong are Italy, Ukraine, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Portugal, but the game is developing so fast that new countries emerge very quickly.