Dubai: The UAE have been clubbed with Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Palestine in Group C of the Asian qualifiers for the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup Tahiti 2013, to be held at the Katara Beach in Doha from January 22 to 26. A total of 16 teams will be in the fray with the top three finishers making the cut for the World Cup later this year.
While the draw ceremony last month featured 13 teams divided into four groups, three more teams: Afghanistan, the Philippines and Thailand have been added to the event with several national member associations asking for additional time to complete their applications to the competition. The draw for the additional three teams were conducted at the Fifa headquarters in Zurich on Monday.
Following the addition of the three teams, Nasser Al Khater, Vice Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, said: “We are extremely pleased that Qatar is hosting the AFC qualifiers of the largest-ever Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup. I look forward to an exciting and enjoyable event geared towards families and wish the best of luck to all of the participating teams.”
Qatar, Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, China, Iran, Iraq, Japan — 2011 AFC Beach Soccer Champions, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan are the participating teams.
The first placed teams from each group advance to the semi-finals. The two finalists and the third place play-off winner will qualify for the seventh edition of the Beach Soccer World Cup, to be held from September 18 to 28 at Toata Stadium (Stade de Toata) in Papeete, on the Pacific island of Tahiti.
The number of teams for the qualifiers speak for itself about the growing popularity of the sport as only 11 teams participated in the previous edition in 2011.
A state-of-the-art, 3,000-strong temporary stadium will be built on the shore. Spectators can attend all matches free of charge and a small fan zone will also be set up adjacent to the stadium.
