Qatar- FIFA officials laud fantastic tournament
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Right: Action from the final between Magnus Futsal and Carlos Barbosa. Picture by: Baher Amin/The Peninsula
DOHA: The Qatar Football Association (QFA) won rave reviews at the end of the Futsal intercontinental Cup that concluded on Wednesday.
The six-day tournament was clinched by Brazil’s Magnus Futsal with Carlos Barbosa - also of Brazil - finishing second.
For the first time, world’s top eight clubs including home side Al Rayyan battled for top honours in an event staged in Doha.
QFA will stage the event for the next four years also, and FIFA Futsal and Beach Soccer competitions manager Kasri Haqeeqi said the event was ‘top-class’.
This was the 15th edition of the Intercontinental Cup and the first ever staged in the Middle East.
“It was a great pleasure to see the event take place here,” he said. “I take this opportunity to thank QFA for their outstanding organization of the event.
“We saw the world’s best eight sides here. The technical level was top draw. The games were hugely enjoyable.
“Al Rayyan were good too. This was their first participation. They did really well to reach the semi-finals. It is not easy to do that when there are such experienced teams in a tournament,” he said.
“The top two sides reached the final. Even the final was superbly contested,” he said.
Magnus Futsal won 75,000 Euros while Carlos Barbosa picked up 40,000 for their efforts. Third-placed FC Barcelona Lassa got richer by 24,000 Euros.
“I am confident that when QFA stages the event next year, there’d be more fun and greater battles witnessed,” he said.
“Futsal will have greater following in the region in the years to come, thanks to the event staged in Doha,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jaime Yarza, Head of events in competitions, FIFA, has lauded the level of football displayed from eight of the best club teams in the World.
Yarza also heaped praises on Qatar’s infrastructure and facilities.
“Well, the first thing we have been impressed is that this hall (Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena) is fantastic, it’s really got everything. As a joke, I would take the same one and bring it to Columbia for the World Cup because it’s really world level, I was saying that two year back I was watching a match in the United States, and this is as good if not better than the stadium I was in the States, so it’s really very good facilities,” said Yazra.
Futsal as a sport is growing in Asia he said and a day is not far off when an Asian country will win the Futsal World Cup.
“Asia is becoming one of the strongest regions in the world for futsal and we were talking today that maybe the next World Cup in Columbia is not going to be won by Brazil or by Spain but by for example by an Asian team.”
“I’m convinced with the growth of the sport, futsal clubs will also have their own World Cup at some point.”
The Peninsula