Last weekend we had a very interesting seminar about Futsal in Asia were a lot of countries were represented. Also there were several guest speakers from all over the world.
Spains assistant Frederico presented the Spanish concept. Ofcourse exceptional but they have fully support from their President Mr. Villar. But as an example how it could be; perfect!
Mico Martic from Croatia presented the end results of the Technical Study Group regarding the World Championships 2012 and the latest trends. One of the topics was if we should discuss the powerplay situation. It’s very undesirable to start a game with a fifth fieldplayer so we have to speak further about this. Suggestions: maybe only possible in the last 5 minutes of the game or finish within 1 minute after starting to play with 5 players.
I presented the preparation of the Thai National Futsal Team for the WC and what is the benefit for Thailand as host. The preparation for my young team (the youngest on the WC) was ideal; good games and good tournaments. The benefit is ebbing away a little bit; we now must implement the plan to educate better coaches and find a solid structure for the competition (maybe with play offs).
The real problems appeared from the discussing groups: no support, not enough finances, not involved at the Football Associations etc. These problems are worldwide the same.
Therefore: the Technical Director of a country should much more be involved at the development of Futsal. This together with the Head of Education. My suggestion: invite the Technical Directors and other responsible managers for the next seminar. This was received positively.
Also I suggested that the AFC must make clear rules regarding foreign players in the competition. In my opinion it’s very undesirable that 3-4 foreigners are on the pitch (60-80% !!) and that there’s no more space for own talented players. Look at several countries who have a great competition but don’t take part internationally, for example England….
After all a fruitfull seminar with support from FIFA Head of the Technical Department Jurg Nepfer and newcomer Brent Rahim (FIFA Futsal & Beachsoccer Department).
Also I would like to thank Ali Targholizade from AFC who has to pull the cart further and take care of the Asian Teams so that they can play a significant role on the next World Championships.