Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Ho Chi Minh City: AFC and Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Saturday which will help give a boost to beach soccer in the continent.
AFC General Secretary Dato’ Alex Soosay and BSWW President Joan Cusco signed the agreement in the presence of AFC Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee Chairman, Zhang Jilong, who is also the AFC Vice-President, AFC Executive Committee member Dr. Tran Quoc Tuan and members of the committee.
Under the four-year agreement, BSWW will help organise beach soccer competitions and provide support to the AFC’s Member Associations in developing the game.
Speaking on the occasion, Dato’ Alex said that AFC is embarking on a new journey with BSWW and was hopeful of taking beach soccer to a different level through this MoU.
“We have organised football at all levels but beach soccer is a new territory for us. It will be a challenge because it not only involves competition organisation but also education, development, grassroots ,etc,” he said.
“FIFA plays an important role in development of beach soccer. We started futsal with a small step and I am confident that this sport will surely grow in the years to come.”
Joan Cusco said that futsal and beach soccer add value to football like football adds massive value to these two games.
“These sports complement each other. Today we have 131 FIFA MAs who are active in beach soccer and our target is to reach out to 150 MAs in the next two years,” he said.
“Asia and this partnership will play an important role in achieving this target because Asia is known for tourism, beaches and adopting modern trend. This sport is a modern trend and it’s proven that this sport works.
“We want to bring our expertise to AFC and all its MAs on how to develop the national team, competitions, grassroots, etc.”