Courtesy: UEFA.com


New names join giants in futsal draw

Monday 30 June 2008

by Paul Saffer

A record 45 sides have entered the 2008/09 UEFA Futsal Cup – and 41 of them will discover their fate when the Preliminary and Main round draws are made on Wednesday at 13.30 CET in Nyon, Switzerland.

Top seeds
As for the last two seasons, the entrants enter in one of three stages, with the top four seeds – holders MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, former winners MFK Dinamo Moskva and Interviú Madrid plus last season's fourth-placed side Kairat Almaty – not entering until November's Elite round, drawn on 25 September and producing the entrants for next April's final four showpiece. The next 18 sides, which include 2005 champions Action 21 Charleroi and the previous season's runners-up SL Benfica, are given a bye to the Main round from 6-14 September, in which six groups will each provide two further Elite round contenders.

Draws
The Main round lineup will be completed by six teams qualifying from as many Preliminary round groups, with 23 clubs competing from 9-17 August. Five of the Preliminary round groups will contain four teams, one from each of the seeding pots, and the sixth just three, with no fourth seeds. Six teams designated as mini-tournament hosts will be kept apart from each other as well as the teams in their own seeding group, and the procedure will be similar for the Main round, with the winners of the six Preliminary round groups treated as the fourth seeding pot. Among the entrants are two teams from nations represented for the first time – Denmark's Albertslund IF and Vídir Gardi of Iceland. However, among the absentees are ElPozo Murcia FS, beaten on penalties by Ekaterinburg in last season's final in Moscow, as they were defeated in the Spanish play-off decider by Interviú.


2008/09 UEFA Futsal Cup ranking list

Elite round: 8-16 November (4 teams+12 to qualify, draw 25 September)

Rank Country Club Pot

1 RUS MFK Dinamo Moskva bye
2 ESP Interviú Madrid bye
3 Title-holders (RUS) MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg bye
4 KAZ Kairat Almaty bye

Main round: 6-14 September (18 teams+6 to qualify) – host club in bold

Seed Country Club Pot
1 BEL Action 21 Charleroi 1
1 UKR FC Shakhtar Donetsk 1
1 POR SL Benfica 1
1 CZE FK Era-Pack Chrudim 5
1 AZE Araz Naxçivan 5
1 ITA Luparense C/5 1
2 SVK Slov-Matic Fofo Bratislava 2
2 CRO tbc 2
2 GEO Iberia 2003 Tbilisi 2
2 ROU ACS Odorheiu Secuiesc 5
2 GRE Athina '90 Athens 2
2 SRB KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac 2
3 POL PA Nova Gliwice 5
3 MNE KMF Municipium Pjlevija 5
3 SWE Skövde AIK 3
3 ISR Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion 3
3 BLR Viten Orsha 3
3 HUN MVFC Berettyóújfalu 5

Preliminary round: 9-17 August (23 teams) – host club in bold

Seed Country Club Pot
1 ARM Politechnik Yerevan 6
1 SVN KMN Gorica 6
1 LVA FK Nikars Riga 6
1 BIH MNK Orliæ Sarajevo 6
1 LTU Nautara Kaunas 10
1 BUL FC Nadin Sofia 10
2 CYP Parnassos Nicosia 7
2 NED Carillon Boys Beverwijk 7
2 FIN Golden Futsal Team Espoo 7
2 MKD KMF Elita Tetovo 7
2 ALB KF Tirana 7
2 AUT 1. FC Graz 10
3 MDA CSC Dinamo Chisinau 10
3 AND FC Madriu 8
3 FRA Roubaix Futsal 10
3 ENG Ipswich Wolves 8
3 GER Uni Futsal Club Münster 10
3 IRL Saint Patrick's Athletic FC 8
4 SUI FC Seefeld Zürich 9
4 EST FC Betoon Tallin 9
4 MLT Scandals FC 9
4 DEN Albertslund IF 9
4 ISL Vídir Gardi 9




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