NAN-S-7
Draws
By Olanrewaju Akojede
Lagos, Feb. 27, 2017 (NAN) The draws for the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer will hold in Nassau, capital city of the Bahamas on Tuesday, Feb. 28, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2017 edition of the biennial championship will be hosted by Bahamas, a state with tourism potential.
The championship which has its root in Brazil was first played in 1995 as an invitational tournament before it was taken over by FIFA in 2005.
In 2009, FIFA made the recommendation for the beach soccer to be played as a biennial competition which would allow for continents affiliated to FIFA to organise their qualification series.
Representatives for the competition among the nations, according to FIFA, include UEFA, (Europe) with five slots, CONMEBOL, (South America), three slots, AFC (Asia), three slots.
Others are CAF (Africa) which has two slots and CONCACAF (North, Central and Caribbean) with two teams, while OFC (Oceania) has one slot.
The competition has in all 16 teams. Brazil is the most successful team participating in the tournament with 13 titles.
Nigeria will be represented at the draws in Bahamas.
“Nigeria has participated in the global tournament in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011, reaching the quarter-finals at its last outing in Ravenna, Italy six years ago.
“Nigeria is one of the 16 finalists at the championship billed for April 27 to May 7.
“FIFA Instructor and Team Administrator of the Supersand Eagles, Mr Sunday Okayi, will represent Nigeria at Tuesday’s ceremony inside the Hotel Atlantis.
“Previous FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup finals were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2005, 2006, 2007), Marseilles, France (2008), Dubai, UAE (2009), Ravenna, Italy (2011), Tahiti (2013) and Espinho, Portugal (2015),’’ NFF said in a statement.
The statement added that Portugal was the defending champions after defeating Tahiti 5-3 in the final two years ago.
“Already, 13 of the 16 participating countries are known, following the emergence of Mexico and Panama at the CONCACAF, qualifying tournament that took place in the Bahamas from Feb. 20 to Feb. 26.
“The three remaining finalists will emerge at the Asian qualifying tournament billed for March 4 to March 11.
“Nigeria and Senegal, finalists at the CAF Beach Soccer Cup of Nations in Lagos in December 2016, will fly Africa’s flag.
“Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay are coming from South America. Hosts the Bahamas qualify automatically, while Tahiti will represent the Oceanian region.
“Poland, Portugal and Switzerland will be in the Bahamas for Europe. But Russia, champions in Ravenna in 2011 and Tahiti in 2013, will be missing.
The Bahamas, a nation of less than 400,000 people, is comprised of 700 islands scattered across more than 100,000 square miles of the northern area of the Atlantic Ocean.
The country is a leading tourist destination in the world,’’ the statement added. (NAN)
KOJE/ENN/PDE
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(Edited by Edwin Nwachukwu/Peter Ejiofor)