Football & Futsal

Official futsal championship match ball - SELECT FPUS 1700
Official match ball for the 2011 World Deaf Futsal Championships
Oktay Aktas sitting down with Christof Niklaus and Members of the 2012 OC during the site visit.
Oktay Aktas sitting down with Christof Niklaus and Members of the 2012 OC during the site visit.
2011 World Deaf Futsal Championships
Only four months before the start of the World Deaf Futsal Championships in Orebro, Sweden, I am happy to report no minor or major problems. Unfortunately Australia Women has withdrawn from Group C so I will look into restructuring the draw in due course.

The OC has decided on the official championship match ball, which will be SELECT FPUS 1700 'pearl'.

The Technical Regulations has been finalised and all participating countries has a copy of them. Please go to http://deaf-futsal2011.com for a copy.

2012 World Deaf Football Championships
I went to Ankara Turkey at the beginning of July and carried out a site inspection visit ahead of next year’s World Deaf Football Championships and I was very impressed with what I saw.

There are two plans to host the WC. Plan A is the preferred choice.

Plan A:
Buyuk Sehir Belediyesi Saray Tesisleri (Province of the City’s Football Saray Complex)

This complex was built just a year ago, so it is still very new and there are six grass pitches in line with each other in two rows. The idea is to remove the two pitches in the middle, replace them with spectator seats and use the four pitches for the duration of the championships.

Next to the complex of six pitches is a small 2,000 seats stadium, which will be used for both the men and women semi finals and the final. The Opening and Closing Ceremony will also be hosted in the Saray Stadium.

There are enough changing facilitates to accommodate eight teams at the same time when needed. Floodlights are available for evening matches, as the majority of matches will be scheduled with an early morning and early evening kick off time to avoid the high heat.

Plan B:
Pursaklar Football Club, Baglum Sport Complex, 19 Mayis Sport Complex, Cebeci Sport Hall, Ahmet Taner Kislall Sport Hall, Golbasi Municipal Sport Hall, Golbasi Tedas Sport Complex and/or Sincan Sport Hall will be used for the duration of the Championships.

A number of these facilities will be used for the duration of the championships if we go ahead with Plan B. Consideration will be given to those with and without floodlights when the schedule is completed.

Turkey Deaf Sports Federation agreed to make a final decision on which plan to go ahead with by September 2011. I will inform you all accordingly by email and/or in the next enews.

I requested for the draw to be held in Orebro, Sweden during the World Deaf Futsal Championships in November 2011 as it was a good opportunity to promote the 2012 World Deaf Football Championships. The OC kindly agreed to this and so two members of the OC will travel to Sweden to work with me on the draw immediately after the Technical Meeting on 25 November 2011 in Orebro, Sweden.

As always, yours in football

Christof NIKLAUS
ICSD Technical Director - Football/Futsal

By Christof Niklaus