Courtesy: UEFA.com


Iberia and others learn futsal draw fate

Last season's UEFA Futsal Cup finals hosts Iberia Star Tbilisi have been sent to Hungary after the preliminary and main round draws were made in Nyon by former Spanish international Kike.

Wednesday 3 July 2013

The lowest-ranked 29 of the 49 clubs entering the competition will start in the preliminary round, played from 27 August to 1 September, and they were split into eight sections. Among them is a tough looking Group B, where hosts TS Wisła Kraków will meet, among others, English representatives and fellow debutants Baku United FC, who recently signed Arnaldo Pereira, a 2010 winner with SL Benfica.

Only the eight group winners progress to join the 16 teams entering in the main round, played from 1 to 6 October and also drawn today. The tournament's sole 13-season ever-presents Iberia are in Group 2, hosted by Hungary's ETO FC Győr and to include two preliminary round winners.

Italian champions Marca Futsal, semi-finalists in 2011/12, have two tough Group 3 opponents in hosts FC Lokomotiv Kharkiv and Tulpar Karagandy, entering as Kazakh runners-up thanks to Kairat Almaty winning the UEFA Futsal Cup last season. Another past semi-finalist, Araz Naxçivan of Azerbaijan, travel to Romania for a pool hosted by City'US Târgu Mures and featuring Belgium's Châtelineau Futsal.

The top two in each main round group will join the four highest-seeded clubs given a bye to the elite round draw on 18 October: Kairat, former winners MFK Dinamo, FC Barcelona and 2011 runners-up Sporting Clube de Portugal. The four elite round group winners, to be decided between 19 and 24 November, will compete in the final tournament in late April, with the hosts picked from among them.

Preliminary round draw

Group A: Sporting Clube de Paris (FRA), CSC Lexmax Chisinau (MDA), FK Nautara Kaunas (LTU)*

Group B: TS Wisla Krakow (POL)*, KF Jedinstvo Bilejo Polje (MNE), Baku United FC (ENG), KS Ali Demi (ALB)

Group C: Vegakameratene (NOR), Minerva Futsal Bern (SUI), Stella Rossa Wien (AUT)* , Fırat Üniversitesi Elazığ (TUR)

Group D: Asa Ben Gurion (ISR), KMF Tango Sarajevo (BIH), Wrexham Futsal Club (WAL)*

Group E: KMF Zelezarec Skopje (MKD), FC Grand Pro Varna (BUL)*, FC Shahumyan Yerevan (ARM), FC Encamp (AND)

Group F: VitEn Novolukomi (BLR), Eden College Futsal (IRL), Perth Saltires (SCO), Göteborg Futsal Club (SWE)*

Group G: FS Ilves Tampere (FIN)*, Hamburg Panthers (GER), JB Futsal Gentofte (DEN), Hibernians FC (MLT)

Group H: Athina '90 Athens (GRE), FC Anzhi Tallinn (EST), Víkingur Ólafsvík (ISL)*


Main round draw

Group 1: Slov-Matic Bratislava (SVK), FK Nikars Riga (LVA)*, Winner Group F, Winner Group G

Group 2: Iberia Star Tbilisi (GEO), ETO FC Győr (HUN)*, Winner Group D, Winner Group E

Group 3: Marca Futsal (ITA), Tulpar Karagandy (KAZ), FC Lokomotiv Kharkiv (UKR)*, Winner Group A

Group 4: FK EP Chrudim (CZE), FC Litija (SVN), AC Omonia Nicosia (CYP)*, Winner Group B

Group 5: KMF Ekonomac Kragyjevac (SRB)*, Club Futsal Eindhoven (NED), MNK Nacional Zagreb (CRO), Winner Group C

Group 6: Araz Naxçivan (AZE), City'US Târgu Mures (ROU)*, Châtelineau Futsal (BEL), Winner Group H

*Hosts


Bye to elite round

Kairat Almaty (KAZ, holders)
MFK Dinamo (RUS)
FC Barcelona (ESP)
Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com