Courtesy: UEFA.com

Porto to stage 2007 finals

Tuesday, 19 April 2005

By Greg Demetriou

Portugal has been confirmed as the host nation for the next UEFA European Futsal Championship at a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Tallinn.

Three contenders
The Portuguese bid to stage the finals in Porto in November 2007 was picked ahead of entries from Eindhoven and Maastricht in the Netherlands, and Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina. There had initially been nine bids from interested associations, underlining the growing commitment to Futsal across Europe.

Impressive venue
The main match venue will be the impressive 4,500-seater Rosa Mota Hall, which is set in the picturesque surroundings of the botanical gardens within the city centre. A second match hall, with a 3,500 capacity, will be located in the Porto suburb of Matosinhos.

'Strong tradition'
UEFA said the decision was made on the basis of the popularity and strong tradition of Futsal in Portugal and the Portuguese Football Federation's experience in staging UEFA events. Portugal had the honour of staging the first UEFA Futsal Cup for clubs in 2002, when the final stage was played as an eight-team tournament in Lisbon, while the national team is a regular finalist at the European Championship and the FIFA Futsal World Championship.

Fifth finals
The 2007 finals will be the fifth official UEFA championship for national teams, with the first being held in Granada, Spain in 1999 when Russia were victorious. The holders then staged the next event two years later in Moscow, with the Spanish this time finishing on top. Italy became the first host nation to triumph when they staged the 2003 event in Caserta and Aversa before Spain claimed the title again at the 2005 finals held in the Czech Republic in February.