Finomena Football: Bringing the UAE its own game

Dubai: The football scene in the UAE will soon welcome Finomena Football, a homegrown project aiming to turn fast-paced cage football into a professional, entertainment-driven sport built in the region.

Behind the project is CEO and Founder Felix Lauterbach, who says the idea stems from his long-standing passion for football and a desire to transform that love for the game into a new, modern format built around cage football.

“The story behind Finomena starts from when I was young,” explained Lauterbach.

“I’m a huge sports fanatic and over time I have tried to launch a few sports start-ups which didn’t work out but it’s all come together now, and I think I’m ready.”

“I tried to put all my knowledge into a project and format that sadly doesn’t have a professional stage.”

Cage football has been a part of football culture for decades, with enclosed pitches found in cities and communities across the world.

From urban neighbourhoods in Europe and South America to dedicated facilities in the Middle East, the format has long provided a fast-paced environment that places an emphasis on technical ability, creativity and one-on-one duels.

While millions of players have grown up playing the game in cages, parks and small-sided arenas, it has largely remained a grassroots activity, never making the leap to a fully professional sport with established leagues, teams and global competitions.

That is the gap Finomena Football hopes to fill, aiming to take a format enjoyed worldwide and give it a professional stage of its own.

“Football is probably the biggest sport in the world but cage football which is quite a significant part of the game doesn’t have a professional stage,” Lauterbach continued.

“It’s such an amazing format of football and not having an elite level to it gave me the spark I needed to launch Finomena.”

Growing up in Germany and Austria, Lauterbach experienced football in one of the world's most established football cultures, but he believes the UAE offers a different kind of opportunity.

While he acknowledges that the game is not yet embedded on the same scale as it is across Europe, he points to the country's youthful population, thriving community football scene and growing appetite for the sport as reasons why Finomena Football can flourish.

Lauterbach also highlights the excitement generated whenever nations from the MENA region compete on the world stage, particularly at the FIFA World Cup, as evidence of the passion that already exists for football across the region.

For him, that enthusiasm provides the perfect foundation on which to build a new footballing concept in the UAE.

“Football is very different here to where I grew up, but at the same time it’s so powerful,” said the 31-year-old.

“When it comes to youth and community it’s probably been some of the best experiences I’ve had in football, a lot of people probably don’t think this when they think about UAE football, but it’s big.

“If you go to the stadiums, you can see that there is a real passion for the game here and when the MENA countries play at the World Cup you can feel it.

“When Morocco reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, it felt like everyone was behind them.”

Lauterbach is also keenly aware that success will depend on more than simply putting players inside a cage.

Unlike traditional 11-a-side football, cage football demands a different skill set, with players required to think and react quicker in tight spaces, rely heavily on technical ability and embrace constant one-on-one battles.

Equally important, however, is attracting an audience that appreciates the speed, flair and entertainment value that make the format unique.

“We want to become the number one cage football league in the world but to do this we must find the best players for it,” he stated.

“It’s a completely different style of game, you can use the wall so that’s a completely new layer, the skillful players understand that the wall is almost like an additional player.

“When it comes to fans you need to find a way to cater to two groups, there’s the older age group where they’re more traditional but I think if you give them credibility and show them the professional element that shows them it’s something legit.

“Then there’s the younger age group which might not have the same tie to cage football with the world being much more digital, but for them you can make it attractive through how you package it in an interesting way and make it more short form.”

With Finomena Football set to arrive in UAE cages later this year, the timing could hardly be better.

As football fever continues to grow across the region and anticipation builds around the FIFA World Cup, the project has an opportunity to capture the imagination of a new generation of fans.

Combining the speed and skill of cage football with the energy of the UAE's sporting landscape, Finomena hopes to carve out its own place in the game and prove that a format enjoyed in cages around the world can thrive on a professional stage.