Football Victoria (FV) is delighted to announce that Victoria will host the National Futsal Championships (NFC) in January 2023.
The championships began in 1980 and since then have united Australia’s finest talent for five days of fast paced, goal-laden quality Futsal, providing competitors, officials and spectators with memories to last a lifetime.
The NFC is the largest of Football Australia’s national tournaments, with close to 1,000 participants from over 100 teams being involved from states and territories across Australia and historically representative teams from Solomon Islands and New Zealand have also participated.
The announcement is a major boost for Futsal in Victoria, following FV’s reassurance earlier this year to unite and develop the sport.
Victoria was granted hosting rights by Football Australia following a comprehensive nomination process, which also saw Queensland win the opportunity to host the upcoming NFC in January 2022.
By granting the hosting rights in two different cities over the next two years, it allows the NFC to be promoted and showcased as a truly national tournament.
FV’s Head of Futsal, Anthony Grima, highlighted that hosting a major national tournament will have a considerable impact on Futsal in our state.
“This is a huge win for Futsal in Victoria and one for me that should be dedicated to the many amazing individuals who are at the heart of the Futsal community here in Victoria. Hosting the NFC will leave a lasting legacy for Futsal and football in Victoria and inspire and enable more people to take up this amazing sport,” Grima said.
“In what will already be an exciting year for our state, as a host city of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023TM, hosting the National Futsal Championships will also allow us to showcase the best that Australian Futsal has to offer and highlight the various pathway opportunities that are available. At the same time locally, we can continue to invest in the resources needed to ensure Victoria’s own Futsal community can deliver the best possible experiences for Futsal players, coaches, referees, clubs and centres across the state.”
“As the Minister announced back on 16th of May, we will also see the Home of the Matildas facility being built in Bundoora, which will include an international size Futsal pitch,” Grima said.
Kimon Taliadoros, Chief Executive Officer of Football Victoria echoed Grima’s sentiment, expressing the NFC will not only benefit Victoria’s Futsal and football community, but our state as a whole.
“Victoria is the home of sport. Our culture is built around it. It is ingrained in everything we do. The tourism and events industry makes a significant contribution to Victoria through economic growth, employment and exports,” he said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for the people of Victoria. By hosting the National Futsal Championships, we will further enhance the state’s ability to host events and tournaments and support the Victorian economy by bringing interstate visitors back to Melbourne to experience the wide range of products, services and experiences that this great state has to offer.”
Futsal has been on the national agenda for some time now, with Football Australia recently having released the ‘XI Principles - for the future of Australian football.’
Principle IV calls for the establishment of a national agenda for Futsal and Beach Soccer and to investigate the creation of new products to grow the game. The NFC will feed into this Principle and is expected to become a significant event on the Australian football calendar.
James Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Football Australia was pleased with the outcome and looks forward to growing the Futsal footprint in Australia.
“As part of our clear strategic agenda, we outlined a vision to create a national program for futsal and beach soccer by working closely with our member Federations in a unified, inclusive and collaborative manner.
“With the culmination of this process, we are delighted that Football Queensland and Football Victoria will be hosting the National Futsal Championships in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
“There is a clear appetite throughout Australia for football to increase its imprint through futsal and beach soccer. Queensland and Victoria now have the opportunity to showcase this and bring it to life over the next two years, in a way never seen before, Johnson said.
View the official Football Australia media release here.
Football Victoria Futsal Strategy:
- Formally recognise the sport of Futsal within Football Victoria’s existing Strategic Plan 2019-2022 ‘FootbALLways’ to facilitate its growth, including in schools and to foster the increase and development of players, coaches, referees, Futsal clubs and Futsal centres in the broader Futsal pathway.
- Provide Futsal competition providers and Futsal clubs with a genuine value proposition to partner with Football Victoria via a revamped affiliation and support program to grow and develop Futsal together as a unified Futsal community.
- Integrate Futsal within the implementation of Football Victoria’s current Facilities Strategy and advocate for increased and improved Futsal facilities with local, state and federal government for the benefit of all Futsal competition providers and Futsal clubs across Victoria.
To learn more or to get involved with Futsal please visit www.fvfutsal.com.au