Courtesy: UEFA.com


Ireland falls for futsal

Wednesday, 14 February 2007

by Paul Saffer

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has launched a national futsal league as it aims to make its bow in the 2007/08 UEFA Futsal Cup.

Eight entrants
Ireland hopes to enter a team in European club competition for the first time this year - as the number of competing nations threatens to grow beyond the current total of 39 - and the opening fixtures in the League of Ireland Under-21 Futsal League are on Saturday. Bray Wanderers AFC, Bohemian FC, Drogheda United FC, Dundalk FC, Monaghan United FC, Shamrock Rovers FC, Saint Patrick's Athletic FC and University College Dublin FC will all be represented, and there will be a prize of €10,000 as well as a possible UEFA Futsal Cup preliminary round place for the champions. The domestic tournament runs until 7 April and involves seven rounds of Saturday matches at venues in Dublin including the National Basketball Arena, which stages the first set of games.

Strategy
It is hoped that, by 2008, the league will include 16 sides with no age restrictions, though the strategy will remain to develop young players who could in future make up a national team. All the participants are among the most high-profile football clubs in Ireland. Speaking at the launch, FAI technical director Packie Bonner said: "Futsal is an extremely important way for players to develop their skills and understanding of the game. Not only is futsal a great tool to help develop gifted players, it's also a game of high-professional profile across the world. Spain, for example, has a full-time professional futsal league."

New nations
UEFA futsal manager Laurent Morel welcomed the further expansion of the sport's reach in Europe. "Ireland, Estonia and Israel should be in the UEFA Futsal Cup next season, while Wales and Denmark are also under discussion," Morel told uefa.com.



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com