2016/17 UEFA Futsal Cup finals: Almaty

Kairat Almaty have been picked to host the 2016/17 UEFA Futsal Cup finals on 28 and 30 April at the new Almaty Arena.

Contenders: Inter FS (ESP), Kairat Almaty (KAZ, hosts), Sporting CP (POR), Ugra Yugorsk (RUS, holders)

Schedule:
Semi-finals
Friday 28 April
Ugra Yugorsk v Sporting CP (14:00CET)
Inter FS v Kairat Almaty (16:30CET)

Third-place play-off
Sunday 30 April (13:00CET)

Final
Sunday 30 April (15:30CET)

*Local time is four hours ahead of CET

Kairat are the first club to be chosen twice as hosts. In 2011, when the event was staged at Almaty's Baluan Sholak Sport Palace, Sporting beat the hosts 3-2 in the semis, but the Portuguese side were themselves overcome by Montesilvano of Italy in the final.

Kairat face Sporting in the 2011 finals in Almaty©Sportsfile

The Almaty Arena was completed in September, built as an ice hockey arena for the 2017 Winter Universiade. It can also be used for boxing, basketball and volleyball as well as futsal.

Kairat won their three elite round games at the Almaty Arena in November in front of an aggregate crowd of 15,500. The 6,500 who saw them defeat Real Rieti represented a record attendance for the UEFA Futsal Cup elite round, and the joint-fifth highest crowd in the tournament's history, behind four finals matches.

While Kairat are the first two-time hosts, Lisbon's Meo Arena is the only venue to have held the finals on more than one occasion, overseen by Benfica in 2010 and Sporting in 2015. Other venues have been Murcia (2007), Moscow (2008), Ekaterinburg (2009), Lleida (2012), Tbilisi (2013), Baku (2014) and Guadalajara (2016).