Futsal Cup contenders for 2011/12 confirmed

Holders ASD Città di Montesilvano C/5 are among 49 clubs from 48 nations in the running for the 2011/12 UEFA Futsal Cup, the biggest entry in the competition's history.

Montesilvano took the trophy to Italy for the first time in April with a victory against Sporting Clube de Portugal and that pair, along with third-placed hosts Kairat Almaty and Azerbaijan's Araz Naxçivan, are among the top four seeds for the competition beginning in the elite round. Before that 28 clubs will start in the preliminary round and 17 others come in for the main round, both stages drawn at 14.00CET on Wednesday 6 July in Nyon.

The 28 sides starting in the preliminary round played from 13 to 21 August will be drawn into seven groups of four, each containing a team from a quartet of seeding pots ranked by coefficient. Seven sides have been pre-selected as mini-tournament hosts and will be drawn separately before being played in their appropriate seeding position. Among those in the round are The New Saints FC, the first representatives from Wales.

For the main round the winners of the seven preliminary round groups will be pre-drawn with the 17 teams entering at that stage. Among their number are 2007 winners MFK Dinamo Moskva, back after a two-season absence, sole ever-presents Iberia Star Tblisi and Spanish newcomers FC Barcelona, hoping to claim their nation's sixth victory in the 11th staging of the competition after clinching the title against FC Segovia on Sunday. Barcelona and Marca Futsal – who took the Italian title off Montesilvano – are among 11 teams making their debut.

As in previous draw, teams will be allocated one of four seeding positions and six clubs have been selected as hosts and will be drawn separately. The main round will be played from 24 September to 2 October and the top two in each group will join the four top seeds in the elite round draw on 11 October. The four group winners from 12 to 20 November will compete in the finals in late April with the hosts drawn from among their number.

2011/12 entrants
Preliminary round
Pot 1 – hosts
AC Omonia Nicosia (CYP, seeding position 1)
MFC Varna (BUL, 1)
KMF Zelezarec Skopje (MKD, 2)
KMF Leotar Trebinje (BIH, 2)
Stella Rossa Vienna (AUT, 3)
Geneva Futsal (SUI, 3)*
Perth Saltires (SCO 4)

Pot 2 – seeding position 4
FC Anzhi Tallinn (EST)
Fjölnir (ISL)*
Istanbul Üniversitesi SK (TUR)
KF Flamurtari Vlora (ALB)
FC Encamp (AND)
The New Saints FC (WAL)*

Pot 3 – seeding position 3
SD Croatia Berlin (GER)
Sporting Club de Paris (FRA)*
Falcão FC Stockholm (SWE)*
Excess RP Bidnija (MLT)
Vegakameratene (NOR)*

Pot 4 – seeding position 2
BGA Futsal (DEN)
Helvecia Futsal London (ENG)
EID Futsal (IRL)
KMF Bajo Pivljanin (MNE)
Eerebuni Yerevan (ARM)

Pot 5 – seeding position 1
CF Eindhoven (NED)
FK Nautara Kaunas (LTU)
ETO FC Györ (HUN)
FS Ilves Tampere (FIN)
SC Tornado Chisinau (MDA)

Main round
Pot 6 – hosts
Iberia Star Tbilisi (GEO)
KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac (SRB)
FK Nikars Riga (LVA)
City'US Târgu Mures (ROU)
Akademia FC Pniewy (POL)
FC Litija (SVN)

Pot 7 – seeding position 4
Preliminary round winners Groups A to G

The last of the seven to be drawn will be placed in Group 1, seeding position 3

Pot 8 – seeding position 3
MNK Split (CRO)
Châtelineau Futsal (BEL)*
FC Mapid Minsk (BLR)
Asa Ben Gurion (ISR)

Pot 9 – seeding position 2
Slov-Matic Bratislava (SVK)
Athina '90 (GRE)
Uragan Ivano-Frankovsk (UKR)*

Pot 10 – seeding position 1
MFK Dinamo Moskva (RUS)
FC Barcelona (ESP)*
FK Era-Pack Chrudim (CZE)
Marca Futsal (ITA)*

Bye to elite round
ASD Città di Montesilvano C/5 (ITA, holders)
Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
Kairat Almaty (KAZ)
Araz Naxçivan (AZE)

*First entry