Aleksander Čeferin – Futsal is flourishing in Europe

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin looks forward to this weekend’s UEFA Futsal Champions League finals – and says that European futsal has a bright future as UEFA’s new strategy starts to make an impact.

European futsal can envisage a bright future as UEFA’s new strategy for the sport starts to have a significant impact. Important decisions taken by UEFA for the club and national team game are enhancing futsal’s status and strengthening its appeal – and the signs are particularly promising for the club game on this continent.

Welcome to Almaty and Kazakhstan for the 2018/19 finals of the UEFA Futsal Champions League. These are the first finals to be staged after the competition’s name was changed from the UEFA Futsal Cup for the start of this season. The move certainly gives European
club futsal the opportunity of greater exposure and an even higher profile.

We have no doubt that the strategic changes will raise futsal’s standing and, in particular, reinforce public awareness of European club futsal. This year’s finals are taking place at the impressive Almaty Arena, and the fans can certainly look forward to some excellent entertainment from the four teams – host club Kairat Almaty, Barça, Inter FS, and Sporting Clube de Portugal. Enjoy the finals – and may the best team win!

Adilbek Jaxybekov – President of the Kazakhstan Football Federation

The Almaty Arena sports complex is ready to welcome the strongest clubs in Europe for the decisive matches in the UEFA Futsal Champions League. I am confident that these finals will stir up great interest in the beautiful city of Almaty, among residents and visitors alike. The competing clubs – Barça and Inter FS of Spain, Sporting Clube de Portugal and, finally, Kazakh side Kairat Almaty – are widely known outside their own countries, and each of these teams will have many fans supporting them.

I am also confident that the final tournament of the UEFA Futsal Champions League will be organised to the highest standards. After all, Almaty is now set to host the finals for the third time, and this event will provide another great opportunity to show how futsal is developing in Kazakhstan. It should be noted as well that Kairat has been crowned champions more than once as they again vie to win the most prestigious futsal competition in Europe.

There can be no doubt that each of the participating sides will do everything in their power to come out on top, and I wish them all success. May the best team win!

Kairat Orazbekov – Kairat Almaty President

Futsal is a successful and rapidly growing sport that has gained huge popularity around the world, in our country included. This is exemplified by the Kazakhstan national team’s participation in major continental and global competitions such as UEFA Futsal EURO 2016, UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 and the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup, where, on each occasion, the team reached the play-off stages.

Today, we are proud that the first ever final of the UEFA Futsal Champions League will be hosted in Almaty. This newly named competition brings together leading European clubs. Almaty has already hosted the final stages of the UEFA Futsal Cup on two occasions and the 2016/17 final four was one of the best attended in the history of club futsal with more than 28,000 spectators flocking to the
Almaty Arena.

I sincerely hope that the Almaty Arena will attract futsal enthusiasts from around the world as well as local supporters and I am confident the teams will put on a great show for the fans. Welcome to Almaty!

You can more from UEFA’s Futsal Champions League online programme via this link: https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Publications/uefaorg/General/02/60/14/33/2601433_DOWNLOAD.pdf?iv=true

If you like the information provided, you can read more about domestic futsal by going to the top bar navigation or click here

If you like this article and would like to keep updated on Futsal news, developments etc then please submit your email below in the Newsletter section or by clicking on the Subscribe to Futsal Focus option on the header.

Follow Futsal Focus by clicking on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or on the social media buttons on the right sidebar.