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IRNA - Instead of the current European Champion
Italy, Iran have found themselves lumped together in Group D with Uzbekistan and England in prestigious US dlrs 150,000 futsal tourney,
the Kuala Lumpur (KL) World 5s futsal tournament, which will be held at the Putra Stadium about 40 km from here from June 3-8.
The redraw was conducted following the withdrawal of world futsal champion Spain, Holland and Italy due to their concern over the SARS
(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak.
Uzbekistan was the runner-up to Iran -- the undisputed Futsal kings of Asia after four consecutive Asian titles
-- in the Asian Championship in 2001 and is consistently one of the stronger Asian
teams.
The KL World 5s is presented and hosted by Malaysia's Youth and Sport Ministry and is brought to Kuala Lumpur by direct-to-home
subscription-based operator Astro and Asia's No 1 sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports.
The field of 12 teams in the 2003 tournament include three-time world futsal champions Brazil, Asian champions Iran, current ASEAN
champions Thailand, current Asian runners-up Japan, Argentina, Uruguay, Guatemala, England, South Africa, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and
host country Malaysia.
Concern over SARS was the reason for the changes in the team line-up and the changes prompted organizers Football Association of
Malaysia (FAM) and ESPN STAR Sports to carry out an official re-draw of the matches on Tuesday.
Organized biennially and last held in Singapore in December 2001.
Futsal has rapidly grown in popularity in Asia due largely to the success of this tournament and the development efforts of national
football associations.
The growing interest has led to the mushrooming of privately run facilities within Kuala Lumpur, prompting the FAM to announce the
introduction of a league.
Malaysia's Brazilian coach Silvio Machado, taking advantage of the host's right to pick their opponents, had opted for Japan and Holland
during the official draw recently.
With the enforced changes, he will have to revise his strategies, taking into account the team's dismal display in their recent tour to
Holland.
The team who are returning today, suffered three defeats but earned a draw against Dutch futsal teams throughout their two-week
stint.
Despite that, FAM vice-president Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar was optimistic that the team would justify their status as host.
The touring Malaysian squad of 20 will be trimmed to 12 for the tournament.
The top team in each group will enter the semifinals of the Cup competition. The four runners-up will compete in the Plate semi-finals
and likewise the four third-placed teams will meet in the Bowl semis.
The Cup winner will bag US dlrs 50,000 and the runner-up US dlrs 25,000.
The Plate champion will receive US dlrs 15,000 and the runner-up US dlrs 10,000.
The Bowl winner will get US dlrs 10,000 and the runner-up US dlrs 5,000.
Teams will start winning prize money at the semi-final stage of each competition. Cup semi-finalists will each receive US
dlrs 10,000, Plate semi-finalists will each get US dlrs 5,000 and the last four in the Bowl competition will each obtain US dlrs 2,500.
Official Re-Draw Results
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Group A: Brazil, Thailand, South Africa
Group B: Argentina, Japan, Indonesia
Group C: Uruguay, Guatemala, Malaysia
Group D: Iran, Uzbekistan, England |
