Competition format
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Article summary
The UEFA Futsal Cup comprises three group stages and a four-team final tournament.
Article top media content
Article body
The UEFA Futsal Cup comprises three group stages and a four-team final tournament. The criteria determining the ranking of teams level on points can be read in the regulations.
Preliminary round
The lowest-ranked clubs are drawn into four-team mini-tournaments played at the start of the season. Each mini-tournament is staged by one of the clubs and each team plays each other once with the group winners progressing.
Main round
The preliminary round winners join all but the four highest-ranked entrants excused the previous stage. They are drawn into six groups of four, staged as one-venue mini-tournaments, with the top two teams going through.
Elite round
The 12 teams progressing from the main round join the four top seeds and are drawn into four groups of four teams. The winners of the one-venue mini-tournaments in late autumn progress to the finals.
Finals
The four-team finals are held over a weekend in late April and hosted by one of the qualifiers. The tournament is played as a knockout with the semi-finals followed two days later by the final and third-place play-off. If the third-place match is level after 40 minutes it goes straight to penalties, in the other games ten minutes of extra time will be played before penalties, if required.
Regulations
The regulations for the UEFA Futsal Cup were approved by the UEFA Executive Committee.