The Largest Futsal Tournament in Asia Begins on Sunday in Tehran - 2003-07-25

The largest futsal tournament in Asia will begin on Sunday, August 5 (July 27) in Iran. According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), the official AFC website reported: '16 teams from various parts of Asia have gathered in Iran, the defending champion of the last four tournaments, to hold the fifth edition of this competition.' Peter Velappan, Secretary General of the Asian Football Confederation, stated: 'We expect this edition of the competition to be more exciting compared to previous editions, given the number of teams participating, which reflects the attention of Asian countries to futsal.' Iran, the champion of the last four editions of the Asian Futsal Championship, will face China, Kyrgyzstan, and Lebanon in Group C, which is essentially a competition for the second place among these three teams, as the top two teams from the four groups will advance to the quarter-finals. The report also evaluates the teams from other groups, noting: 'Initially, this tournament was supposed to be held in Japan, but due to the SARS outbreak, Iran became the host for these competitions.' Velappan emphasized: 'The holding of these competitions in Iran and the resolution of issues related to the SARS outbreak is noteworthy, and Iran graciously took on the hosting of these competitions at the last moment.' In another report, ISNA states that the head of the futsal committee of the Football Federation clarified regarding the potential presence of women in the venue for these competitions: 'After necessary meetings with the relevant authorities, it was ultimately announced that despite the interest of this group in futsal competitions, the presence of women in the venue has been ruled out.'