Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Port Dickson: A historic FIFA/AFC Beach Soccer Train-the-Trainers Instructors Course started on Monday in the Malaysian beach city of Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan state, paving the way for more success in the exciting game for Asia.
Former Swiss international and FC Basel player, now head coach of the Swiss beach soccer national team, Angelo Schirinzi, will teach and share his knowledge and experience with the 13 participants from 10 MAs during the first ever beach soccer course by the AFC.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Director of AFC Futsal Development Department Ali Targholizade welcomed the participants, FIFA instructor, AFC Deputy General Secretary Hasan Al Sabah, AFC Technical Director Jim Selby and FIFA Development Office Kuala Lumpur official Jeysing Muthiah, who were present.
“Beach soccer has been enjoying rapid growth over the past few years across Asia, and especially has been popular in many MAs with long coastal lines,” he said. “We started the pilot programme today to open a new chapter for beach soccer towards more success in the near future.”
The 39-year-old Angelo Schirinzi addressed the participants: “Beach soccer in Asia is developing fast as we can see better performances in the previous edition of the World Cup. I believe this course will benefit not only the 10 MAs in this course but also give a boost to other MAs who are keen to develop and promote beach soccer.”
Al Sabah stressed on the importance of beach soccer, saying: “Both futsal and beach soccer are significant elements of football, they are the basis of the pyramid and must be paid equal attention to. I hope all the participants in this course will work hard and do their best to achieve maximum results after the course.'
Participants from Australia, China PR, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand and Uzbekistan are taking part in the course, which aims to identity potential instructors for the AFC to work at the regional and MA levels who will be instrumental to improve the quality of the game in the continent and help more nations qualify for the championship.
Currently, Asian countries with beach soccer activities are Australia, Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Syria, Qatar, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
During the last four editions, Japan have been Asia’s most successful nation having participated in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup five times, followed by Iran (four times), the UAE (three), Bahrain (two) and Oman (once).