FUTSAL COURSES IN PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO DRAWS 31 PARTICIPANTS Futsal in the Caribbean was given a tremendous boost by the FIFA Coaches’ and Referees’ Courses held at the University of the West Indies in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, where a total of 31 participants took part in the seminars from 22-27 September. Organized by the FIFA Development Office in Port of Spain, the Futsal Courses are the first-ever in the Caribbean region of CONCACAF. Another Futsal Course is scheduled for La Habana, Cuba from 6-11 October. The Futsal Course in Trinidad & Tobago last week was delivered by FIFA instructors Nico Spreij of Holland (Coaching) and Perry Gautier of Belgium (Refereeing) and featured 17 coaches and 14 referees from 15 English and Dutch speaking Caribbean National Associations. Futsal is steadily improving its global profile but in the Caribbean the growth of the game has been limited to the Dutch and Spanish speaking countries. Cuba, in particular, has a vibrant National Association programmes and has participated in the last two FIFA World Championships. Among the English speaking nations, however, Futsal is not yet a prominent sport. The course programmes focused on technical, tactical training and laws of the game with the prime objectives to promote the establishment of National Association Futsal programmes throughout the Caribbean. Ultimately the aim is the region to increase the number of Caribbean national associations participating in the CONCACAF qualification tournament planned for Guatemala next year, where two teams will advance to the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship to be held in Chinese Taipei. CONCACAF has staged two Futsal qualifiers for the FIFA World Championships in 1996 and 2000. Six teams participated in 1996 CONCACAF event in Guatemala that was won by the USA, while eight squads took part in the 2000 competition in Costa Rica, which was claimed by the host. Cuba finished second in both tournaments. The second FIFA GOAL Futsal Course this month in La Habana will be for Spanish speakers with coaches and referees from Cuba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Mexico due to attend. http://www.concacaf.com/view_article.asp?id=2154
PANAMA LIGA SUPERIOR FUTSAL KICKS OFF THIS FRIDAY Panama’s Liga Superior Futsal (LSF) will kick off its inaugural season on 10 October at the Gimnasio Roberto Durán in Ciudad de Panamá. Under the supervision of Federación Panameña de Fútbol, the LSF will feature 24 teams from the metropolitan areas of San Miguelito, Panamá Osete and Colón. The LSF match-ups on the 10 October will have Río Abajo vs. Juan Díaz, Deportivo Macre de Villa Guadalupe vs. Villa Lucre and Medalla Milagrosa de Colón vs. AD Pacora. From the LSF, Panama’s Futsal team will be selected to compete in next year’s CONCACAF qualifiers in Guatemala for two berths to the 2004 FIFA World Championships in Chinese Taipei.
Futsal Courses for Coaches, Referees this week in Cuba draws 48 participants After 31 participants took part in the first Futsal Course for Coaches and Referees in Trinidad & Tobago from 22-27 September, the second seminars, taking place this week in Cuba have drawn 48 attendees (28 coaches, 20 referees) from five CONCACAF National Associations. The courses, delivered by FIFA instructors Pedro Galan of Spain (Refereeing) and Jose Venancio of Spain and Carlos Quiros of Costa Rica (Coaching), run from 6-11 October in La Habana’s Escuela de Futbol Mario Lopez Alfonso, which was constructed by FIFA as part of its GOAL Programme. Among those participanting in La Habana are technical directors for the Futsal national teams of Cuba (Clemente Reinoso), Costa Rica (Carlos Quiros), Guatemala (Jose Venancio) and Mexico (Jesus Bravo Reyna). CONCACAF has staged two Futsal qualifiers for the FIFA World Championships in 1996 and 2000. Six teams participated in the 1996 CONCACAF event in Guatemala that was won by the USA. Four years later, eight squads took part in the tournament in Costa Rica, which was claimed by the host. Due to the success of both of the Futsal courses, the number of CONCACAF National Associations competing in next year’s qualifying competition in Guatemala, that will advance two teams to the 2004 FIFA World Championship in Chinese Taipei, is expected to increase. The participating national associations and their representatives on the course in La Habana are: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION – REPRESENTATIVE (S) COACHES Costa Rica – Luis Javier Chavarria, Jairo Rivera Quesada Cuba – Armando Arrojo, Renier Bonora, Agustin Campuzano, Juan Diaz, Ernesto Duane, Ernesto Fuentes, Joel Gibs, Alexander Gonzalez, Boris Leon, Pedro Mitjans, Juan Ona, Onesimo Osorio, Eduardo Pera, Hector Perez, Guillermo Pinoi, Clemente Reinoso, Antonio Rodríguez, Mario Rodríguez, Julio Cesar Rojas, Ariel Saucedo, Eldys Valdez Dominican Republic – Sandro Manetti, Prandy Pinales Mexico – Jesus Bravo Reyna Puerto Rico – Dariel Collazo, Frankie Laracuente, Luis Perez REFEREES Cuba – Antonio Alvarez*, Marcos Brea, Sergio Cabrera, Pablo Campo, Onniel Castillo, Rolando García, Ricardo Lage*, Carlos Leyva*, Pedro Lopez, Vladimir Masso*, Roberto Martinez, Iranzo Montano, Wilfredo Sanz, Victor Saucedo, Francisco Sotolongo, Pedro Stuart, Abilio Perez, Livian Pestano, Raul Rodríguez, Walfrido Romero * FIFA Referee http://www.concacaf.com/view_article.asp?id=2176
2003 AMF World Championship Groups, Schedule Unveiled The Asociación Mundial de Futsal (AMF) has unveiled the groups and schedule for its eighth World Championship to take place in Paraguay 21-30 November 2003. The groups have been assigned to the venues of Asunción, Pedro Juan Caballero, Concepción, Minga Guazú and Encarnación. GROUP A (Asunción) Paraguay Australia Belgium Peru GROUP B (Pedro Juan Caballero) Bolivia Brazil Congo Republic Costa Rica GROUP C (Concepción) Russia Spain Italy Netherlands Antilles GROUP D (Minga Guazú) Colombia Czech Republic Belarus Ecuador GROUP E (Encarnación) Argentina Ukraine Canada Norway Schedule First Round GROUP A (Asunción) 21 November Australia - Belgium Paraguay - Perú 22 November Australia - Perú Paraguay - Belgium 23 November Belgium - Perú Paraguay - Australia GROUP B (Pedro Juan Caballero) 21 November Brazil - Congo Republic Bolivia - Costa Rica 22 November Brazil - Costa Rica Bolivia - Congo Republic 23 November Congo Republic - Costa Rica Bolivia - Brazil GROUP C (Concepción) 21 November Spain - Italy Russia - Netherlands Antiles 22 November Spain - Netherlands Antiles Russia - Italy 23 November Italy - Netherlands Antiles Russia - Spain GROUP D (Minga Guazú) 21 November Czech Republic - Belarus Colombia - Ecuador 22 November Czech Republic - Ecuador Colombia - Belarus 23 November Belarus - Ecuador Colombia - Czech Republic GROUP E (Encarnación) 21 November Ukraine - Canada Argentina - Norway 22 November Ukraine - Norway Argentina - Canada 23 November Canada - Norway Argentina - Ukraine Second Round ASUNCION 25 November Match 1 -- 1º Group A - 3° best 2nd classified Match 2 -- 1º Group D - 1º Group C ENCARNACION 25 November Match 3 -- 1º Group B - 1° best 2nd classified Match 4 -- 1º Group E - 2° best 2nd classified Final Round (Asunción) 27 November Winner Match 2 - Winner Match 3 Winner Match 1 - Winner Match 4 28 November Winner Match 3 - Winner Match 4 Winner Match 1 - Winner Match 2 29 November Winner Match 2 - Winner Match 4 Winner Match 1 - Winner Match 3 Note: In the first round the match played in Asuncion will start at 21:00 and 23:00, while in the other cities will start at 20:30 and 22:00. Previous FIFUSA (now AMF) World Championships Year - Venue - Champion 1982 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Brazil 1985 - Madrid, Spain - Brazil 1988 - Melbourne, Australia - Paraguay 1991 - Milan, Italy - Portugal 1994 - Posadas, Argentina - Argentina 1997 - Mexico City, Mexico - Venezuela 2000 - La Paz, Bolivia - Colombia http://www.amfutsal.com.py/index2.html