Firming up Futsal's future

Committee meeting
The decisions were taken by UEFA's Futsal Committee at its March meeting in Nyon, Switzerland. The committee not only looked to the future but reflected on the recent success of the 2005 Futsal Championship, held in February in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Spanish triumph
Spain were winners of that event, when a record 54,000 spectators attended the 16 matches, beating the previous best of 41,350 set in Moscow in 2001, while there were six per cent more goals than in the 2003 finals in Italy.

Hosting honour
Given the Spanish success, it is fitting that the second Futsal Conference will be held at the Ciudad del Fútbol, the Spanish technical centre in Las Rozas, near Madrid. Javier Lozano, a member of UEFA's Futsal Committee, accepted the hosting honour. The event will take place from 13-15 February.

Italian first
The first conference was held in Coverciano, Italy in November 2002 and, over three days, saw the leading names of world Futsal come together to discuss everything from teaching and tactics to the development and promotion of the game. This was followed by the first UEFA Futsal Workshop for emerging nations, held during the recent European Championship.

Bids considered
The Futsal Committee also considered the three bids for the 2007 European finals. Porto in Portugal, Eindhoven and Maastricht in the Netherlands, and Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina were the final trio after an initial nine bids. The winner will be approved and announced during the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on 20 April.

Date switch
In future, the finals should be held in November, rather than February as has been the norm until now, to avoid any clashes with the FIFA Futsal World Championship. In the current season, five European nations - including winners Spain - took part in the global finals in Chinese Taipei in November 2004, before having less than three months until the European event in February 2005.