Record entry for Futsal Cup

The road to the 2007/08 UEFA Futsal Cup final four begins today when the draw is made for the Preliminary and Main rounds in Nyon at 13.00CET.

Record entry
A record 44 clubs from 43 nations have entered the competition, including for the first time teams from Estonia, the Republic of Ireland and UEFA newcomers Montenegro as well as the return of an Israeli entry. Also among the contenders are holders MFK Dinamo Mosvka and 2006/07 final four hosts ElPozo Murcia FS after they beat European runners-up Boomerang Interviú to the Spanish title. Boomerang will be notable absentees along with the previously ever-present 2005 champions Action 21 Charleroi, pipped to the Belgian league crown by Futsal Topsport Antwerpen. Kairat Almaty and Russian league runners-up MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg will join Dinamo and Murcia in being seeded straight into the Elite round, one stage away from April's final four.

Preliminary round
Of the other 40 teams, 22 will be involved in the Preliminary round from 11-19 August. There will be four groups of four teams and two of three, with the six pool winners to progress. Those groups each contain one mini-tournament hosts and every pool will have one team from the top three seeding pots, with the four lower-ranked teams making up the four groups with as many clubs.

Main round
The six group winners will join 18 other clubs in the Main round from 8-16 September. These six groups will consist of one club from each of the three seeding pots plus one Preliminary round winner each, with Araz Naxçivan, Clearex Chorzów, FK Era-Pack Chrudrim, Futsal Club Gödöllő, MFC Varna and HMNK Gospić kept apart as mini-tournament hosts. Two teams from these groups will then join the four seeds in the Elite round draw on 18 September, with matches to be played between 13-21 October to decide the participants in the final four, whose hosts will be picked from among the qualifiers.