InterContinental to sponsor FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012

[buksida]

Royal heritage destination Hua Hin’s flagship InterContinental Hua Hin Resort has been confirmed as an official sponsor of the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012, playing host to the centrepiece of the Official Trophy Tour of the tournament.

The resort is sponsoring next month’s FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012 - in the hope of generating local interest in the game and encouraging Hua Hin’s youth to develop an active interest in the indoor-based variation of football.

The FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012 will be held in Bangkok in November, marking the first time the prestigious tournament has been held in Thailand.

The InterContinental Hua Hin Resort is the historical town’s most prominent resort.

The royally-inspired heritage hotel features beachfront villas as well as La Residence, a 480sqm, two-storey Rama VI period beachfront house which dates back to the 1920s.

The InterContinental Hua Hin Resort recently hosted an opening ceremony to mark the occasion, at which the tournament’s coveted trophy was displayed to guests.

Present at the ceremony were officials from the Tourism Authority of Thailand, as well as guests of honour including the mayor of Hua Hin, Nopporn Wuttikul and Britta Kutz, general manager of the five star resort.

In celebration of the World Cup and to induce a bit of football fever, the day literally kicked off in the morning with the InterContinental Hua Hin Resort hosting a futsal game between local schools who put their best players forward to compete against one another.

Doors opened for the ceremony at 08:45 on Thursday 25th October, with speeches and the presentation of the trophy commencing at 09:00.

The futsal game kicked off at 09:25, with half-time entertainment provided by the Rak Wittaya School cheerleading team.

Following the event was a photo session which finished at 10:30.

InterContinental Hua Hin Resort was nominated for the title of Thailand’s Leading Resort at the World Travel Awards earlier this year.

Source: BTN

[Big Boy]

Well, I've Googled it, established that England aren't competing, but some big footballing nations are. Tickets are quite cheap ............................. but what is Futsal? Is it a form of football (I guess there's a clue in the link to FIFA)? What standard of footballers participate?

[lomuamart]

There's been some stuff about it in the BKK Post over the past few days and supposedly there's some debate about whether the correct playing surface has been laid.
FIFA are soon to decide whether the Thailand will host any matches.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/search/news- ... cle/futsal

[BaaBaa.]

It's basically 5 a side BB.

The quality is outstanding but it's literally a different game.

Half of the brutes in the Premier League would get laughed off, it's a small pitch and all about technique, the Brazilians and Spaniards play it from a young age.

I'm glad it's in Bangkok as I was about to go into a rage as I'd normally be in HH but can't be this year.

[buksida]

Thailand will host the World Deaf Futsal Championships in 2015 in an attempt to restore the country's pride dented by the stadium farce that marred the ongoing Fifa Futsal World Cup.

Fifa, the world governing body of football, last week decided not to approve the Bangkok Futsal Arena, which was due to host games from the quarterfinals of the showpiece tournament, citing security concerns.

Fifa's decision put Thailand, who built the stadium at a cost of Bt1.2 billion, under unwarranted spotlight and the Tourism and Sports minister Chumphon Silpaarcha hoped to salvage the country's credibility by hosting the Championships in three years time.

"The Tourism and Sports ministry are honoured to host the fourth World Deaf Futsal Championships in 2015. This shows the trust they have in us to hold the event very well.

"It is also a good opportunity to show our capability. We'll throw full support behind the organisation of the tournament," Chumphon told reporters after signing a contract with the representative from International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD), Christof Niklaus, who serves as the organisation's football technical director.

Chumphon stressed that there would not be a repeat of what happened at the Futsal World Cup that dealt a hammer blow to the country's reputation.

"The troubles we faced in organising futsal left us with a bad feeling. But, by hosting futsal for the disabled people, it would help improve the public mood about the sport. The ministry will take care of the matters by itself.

"We're professional enough to host international tournaments. There is no need to worry about the venues. We' already have both Nimibutr and Hua Markd Indoor stadiums. We also received Bt300 million from the Sports Authority of Thailand for refurbish the stadium at Suphan Buri," said Chumphon.

Source: The Nation

[PeteC]

Excuse me if this reply is not strictly PC, but I fail to see why deaf people cannot play regular Futsal or Football? They're not sports that rely on players screaming/hearing "hey Joe....pass me the ball...". A player may be damn good if he is isolated from all the crowd noise and other distractions. Pete

[Dannie Boy]

Excuse me if this reply is not strictly PC, but I fail to see why deaf people cannot play regular Futsal or Football? They're not sports that rely on players screaming/hearing "hey Joe....pass me the ball...". A player may be damn good if he is isolated from all the crowd noise and other distractions. Pete

Whilst a lot of the game can be played as normal with hearing impediment, there are situations where being deaf would put a footballer (and therefore the team) at a disadvantage. Not sure whether you have played the game on a competitive basis, but the amount of "verbal coaching" between players is enormous. If you had a team of say 9 players with perfect hearing and 2 deaf, they would be at a distinct disadvantage against a team of 11 with perfect hearing. If all the teams are equal in terms of hearing capability, it's a level playing field and they all face the same challenges.

[lomuamart]

Did it ever happen in BKK?

[PeteC]

Did it ever happen in BKK?

No, it was all moved to another venue....Korat?

For Dannie: Thanks, was not aware of that. Of course the matches I've seen you're so far away from the pitch you can't hear or even see them talking. Pete

[Nereus]

It is being played in a couple of different venues, some in Bangkok, some in Korat.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/ ... ex-muscles

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/ ... nal-berths