Courtesy: FIFA

Chang Chan-Wei: "We are looking forward to hosting the top teams"

(FIFA.com) 19 Nov 2004

In Chinese Taipei, where baseball and basketball have been dominant for decades, fervour for a new game - futsal - has quickly spread over recent years, with countless tournaments for all ages and levels springing up like the island's bamboo shoots. Television coverage for the two favourite sports is extensive but in recent times futsal is becoming increasingly popular with the viewers.
For Chang Chan-Wei, General Secretary of Chinese Taipei Football Association, the years of sustained effort are beginning to bear fruit. According to him, hosting the FIFA Futsal World Championship will give the game a huge boost on the island. In a recent interview with FIFA.com, he talked about his hopes for the showpiece event and his team's chances.

FIFA.com: The tournament is approaching quickly. Are you feeling a little nervous as the first game approaches?

We are very happy to have this tournament here in Chinese Taipei. I feel a bit nervous, but at the same time I am also excited of course as there is a such a huge FIFA tournament coming here with the best players and VIPs. It is the first time in our history that we have hosted such a tournament, this means that we have a huge responsibility and the only thing we have in mind is to have success. After many years of promoting it is not only my honour, but also for my whole country. We are honoured and excited and we are looking forward to the beginning of the tournament.

A futsal exhibition kicked off in the City Hall of Taipei ahead of FIFA Futsal World Championship. Was this part of the LOC's preparation for the forthcoming tournament?

Chang Chan-Wei: Definitely, yes. We are proud to host the most prestigious futsal tournament and we are trying our best to make it a successful one. Besides this exhibition, we are also publicising the event through posters on buses, flags on lamposts along the highway, and specially-made souvenirs etc. We see it a good chance to help promote five-a-side football here. The exhibition, with the history of the FIFA Futsal World Championships shown mainly through pictures and videos, will help our young visitors learn more about the game and will surely attract many more to get involved.

Are you happy with the preparations?

Every person who is involved in the preparations is doing his best and to promote futsal we want to allow schools, soccer clubs, related institutions to see the games.

Your son is playing for the national team. Did you inspire him to play Futsal, when did he start playing?

He started to play football many years ago, at the age of 11. Four years ago he started playing Futsal. I am very proud of him.

So it is your long-term development plan to cultivate young talent?

The youth is our future. Currently in Taipei we are launching a futsal campaign and every class at schools of all levels will take part in the competition. Futsal regulations and knowledge are taught on television and physical education teachers in schools are trained in coaching a short futsal course. We know good teachers will teach good students.

What about the senior participants then?

Futsal has become more and more popular here over the years. Now all kinds of futsal tournaments are staged in every county and city of the island. Just in the city of Jiayi, there are more than 140 futsal teams.

There is a greater understanding of the game than before?

It is important to have the game take root among not only the players, but also ordinary people. Before, people here only knew futsal as football with fewer players, but now they have learned much more than the numerical differences, such as the game's special tactics and techniques, its different pace and passing.

The futsal development plan was your brainchild a few years ago. How did you come up with the idea of developing five-a-side football?

The plan was based on our environment. Compared to the eleven-a-side game, futsal doesn't require too much space or facilities so it is easy to play here where space is limited and precious. It is a fact that football doesn't enjoy as much popularity as baseball and basketball so first of all we need to attract more attention and interest. When we have more and more people playing futsal, the eleven-a-side football will develop in step with futsal naturally.

As has been shown in this year's 2006 FIFA World Cup™ qualifying campaign?

We beat Macao in both legs to go through to the preliminaries, where despite losing all five group matches so far, we came close to holding group leaders Uzbekistan and Palestine, losing both games only 1-0. We also scored twice in both meetings with Iraq. The progress helps enhance our confidence in the development of our football overall. Next year we will launch a semi-professional football league with six teams plus a futsal league with four to six teams. We will import some good players from Eastern Europe, who are inexpensive but have good qualities to help with our development.

Now is the time to show your progress in futsal in the forthcoming tournament?

We don't dream too much when faced with top teams like world champions Spain, Ukraine and Egypt. We are a developing team and all we can do is to play our best and cherish this rare opportunity to learn from our opponents. We can still show what progress we have made in the game's development in front of a watching world despite the possible defeats. But we are looking to play against the world's top teams and have competitive matches, in which our players will surely gain precious international experience. We are not a ruling power even in Asia and we will struggle against any top nation at full-strength, but this FIFA Futsal World Championship can offer us everything.

What is a realistic target for the Futsal development in Chinese Taipei? Where do you see Futsal in your country in ten years?

The main target is to bring the Futsal to a professional stage. It is easier to build up pitches and to promote the game, so it is easier to create interest and to bring on players. I hope that the development with the help of Futsal development committee will be great in terms of promoting the game.