Futsal flying high

For an indication of just how quickly futsal in Europe is growing, look no further than last season’s Futsal Champions League finals in Riga. Latvia is not a traditional futsal heartland and has never had a side reach the finals, but even so 8,442 fans packed Arēna Rīga for the decider between Barça and Sporting CP, a record crowd for a neutral UEFA club futsal fixture. This attendance has only been topped seven times in finals matches, and all of them had the host teams involved.

Across the board UEFA’s futsal competitions are breaking new ground, showing the spectators’ growing appetite for top-level futsal. Four UEFA futsal championship trophies were lifted for the first time in 2022, for men’s and women’s national teams, clubs and youth teams. Meanwhile, the first Finalissima was contested between the top European and South American nations, with World and European champions Portugal coming out on top.

The Futsal Champions League itself continues to grow. This season kicked off with 56 contenders from 52 of 54 eligible national associations, more than double the number of clubs that took part in the inaugural 2001/02 UEFA Futsal Cup. The expansion of domestic leagues in places where futsal was not even recognisable has played a huge part in this growth.

The development of European futsal has always been about tending to the grassroots and supporting showcase events like the Futsal Champions League finals. UEFA rewards associations entering its futsal competitions via the HatTrick scheme, which uses profits from the UEFA European Football Championship to fund football and futsal initiatives across the continent.

In the case of the Futsal Champions League, each association represented at any stage receives €20,000 a season; and with 52 nations fielding clubs, total payments topped €1m this season. Further grants are made for entries into the men’s and women’s national-team tournaments, with newcomers such as Austria now taking part.

There has also been direct HatTrick funding for projects such as San Marino’s national futsal arena and the French Football Federation’s conversion of outdoor sport spaces into futsal courts. The competitive nature of San Marino’s national team, and France’s rise up the futsal ranks, is proof of how beneficial this aid can be.

With competitions growing and innovations introduced such as home-and-away national-team qualifiers, European futsal is attracting players and fans all over the continent. For UEFA, that means expanding into fresh territories and supporting associations in development, as well as putting on as spectacular a show as possible on the biggest stages.