Question and Answer with UEFA's competition manager for Futsal

Laurent Morel

Editor's Note: Several years ago, Luca Ranocchiari of www.futsalplanet.com conducted an interview with Laurent Morel, the competitions manager of futsal for UEFA. An edited version of the interview is reprinted here with thanks to the author, futsalplanet.com and to Laurent for his European perspective on the game. Futsal has grown quickly since Morel shared his views, especially in regard to its visibility in England, Turkey and elsewhere, but it still lags in regard to the Olympics and youth competitions.

Q: What do you think about the current state of European futsal?

A: Futsal is growing everywhere in Europe, but at a different speed. There is a huge amount of work to be done in every area of the development, mostly in the administrative structure and the marketing. The level of the teams has reached a sufficient level to bring incomes (TV, sponsors), but efforts have to be made around the teams and behind the scenes to support them.
 

Q: With reference to the previous question, in which areas does futsal still need to improve? And in what aspects has international futsal already reached a satisfactory level?

A: The image of futsal is the key element for a faster development. Historically, futsal has always suffered from the lack of uniformity. Today, in many important European countries, nobody knows about futsal (Germany, Turkey, France, UK), that is why communication strategies have to be created in these countries to attract people. Globally, futsal development in the last five years is really positive, new countries have developed leagues and launched a national team, and most of the countries should join the family within 10 years.

Q: What's the UEFA priority for Futsal? And above all: Is futsal something basic for UEFA?

A: UEFA wants to harmonize the Futsal administrative structure within the Football Associations. No matter what the model is, the futsal federation must be affiliated with the FA. With the big existing considerations -- years of development, disciplinary services, referees and coaches' education courses etc. -- the Football Associations have a long tradition and a huge expertise in the sport's development. Futsal cannot avoid co-operating with this entity, or it would damage (once again) the uniformity of the game. Today, futsal is part of Professional Division within UEFA, which clearly demonstrates to everybody that UEFA has made it a priority. We think that the European competitions can be further marketed and have a big potential of income, guaranteeing a bright future to the discipline.

Q: The main Futsal events run by UEFA are the European Championship and the UEFA Futsal Cup. Are you satisfied with them? What is UEFA  doing, eventually,  to improve them?

A: We are in close contact with associations and clubs. They bring us feedback and indicators. The level of both UEFA Futsal Cup and the UEFA European Futsal Championship has made big progress since their creation in 1999 and 2001, respecitvely. Today, the Futsal Cup Finals - and even the second qualifying round - are attracting people to the facilities. This year (2005-06) we are launching a new stage, with two semifinals, home-and-away, that will certainly be very attractive.
The formats are anyway in constant evolution, as we have more and more clubs and nations taking part, and we have also more and more TV audiences, Web site viewers, sponsor interests, etc., which allow us the answer to the needs.

Q: What are your thoughts about the fact that almost all the European top leagues are "dominated" by South American players, especially Brazilians? Does this mean there's a lack of technical development of European players? Is that a worry for the growth of the sport in Europe?

A: Futsal was born in South America and developed in Brazil more than 50 years ago. As I always say, if Brazil is five times World Champions in Football, that's partly because of futsal! In the Brazilian cities and suburbs, children are used to playing in reduced spaces, as is the case in futsal. They are learning technical skills, 1-v-1, decision making, etc., much earlier than in Europe and are much more advanced technically. But Europeans could easily reach the same level. The grassroots education and school programs would be a fruitful long-term strategy to develop the quality of the European players in futsal. We are working on that aspect as well in UEFA.

Q: Everybody agrees that youth futsal is a basic step for our sport's development. What is UEFA doing in this direction? According to the current regulations, only when Europe has  51 percent of  its football associations with a U-21 team will UEFA organize an U-21 official competition. Are we close to this happening?

A: The development of youth Futsal is part of the UEFA strategy. We are currently gathering information from all over Europe to have a clear picture of the development of youth futsal. Then, the next step will be to determine in which direction we would progress. The debate between an U-21 or U-19 European Championship exists, as not all countries would be able to build a  U-21 team, especially in the newcomer countries, but are focusing on a long-term projects for their national team. But we hope to launch an official competition by 2008.

Q: In your opinion, which European country is working in the best way for futsal?

 
A: Many of them are doing well with limited budgets and few resources. A good example is definitely Romania, that has built three divisions (local, regional and national) in a very short period of time. There is also a very proactive futsal committee: the national team has an exclusive sponsor and plays approximately 15 games a year, premiers division matches are broadcast on national TV, halls are full. I think this is a real "success story", and I would not be surprised if Romania had one of the top eight teams in Europe within 2 to 3 years.

Q: Futsal and mass media: What are the main difficulties in opening the doors and have more visibility?

A: It is clearly the image that keeps the media, especially TV, from being more involved. For instance, in Belgium, where the competition has been completely dominated for six years by (the team) Action 21, TV has no interest in broadcasting matches. In addition, the facilities themselves don't adapt well to Futsal on TV. When you have basketball, volleyball, tennis, badminton and handball markings on the same floor, the image is definitely not nice enough for the viewers. Today broadcasters need to sell an entertainment to the public, and they have requirements like seeing stands full of spectators (adapted TV positions), good lighting, only futsal markings, music, dancers, color of the pitch, statistics, big sponsors (for TV, "less is more," which means broadcasters prefer a few big sponsors over many local ones). Everything counts, also facilities for the media themselves are often insufficient and not attractive. But this will also take time, as clubs are generally depending on the local authorities for the use of the buildings and have to adapt themselves to the partnerships.

Q: Olympic Games: Do you believe we will manage to reach them?

A: That's the big question. Of course, it is FIFA that deals with the IOC on such an issue. I think it has made some progress, with the insertion of futsal at the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2007. These games are supervised by IOC and will probably serve to test futsal in a large-scale event. No doubt that the attendance, level of the matches and the TV audiences may influence IOC's decision on having futsal in future Olympics. Futsal has all the arguments in its favor, but is also dependent on the number of slots allocated at the Games for new sports. It will certainly be tough to have futsal at London 2012, but we will take every opportunity to make our beloved sport better known to the world. (Editor's note: Futsal was omitted from both the London games and 2016 games in Brazil.)