by Sasha Pei Silovo – EM TV Online
World football body, FIFA, has committed its support towards building a new futsal court for the Solomon Islands. The futsal court will be built in Panatina, Honiara.
The Solomon Islands national futsal team ‘Kurukuru’ won their fifth straight Oceania Championship two months ago where they qualified to compete at the World Cup in September.
The national side is preparing for the world championships in Colombia and is hoping to compete in at least 10 to 15 games before the world meet.
Futsal is a modified form of soccer played with five players per side on a smaller, typically indoor pitch, according to Wikipedia.
The funding from FIFA’s Development Committee comes under the FIFA Challenger Program and will enable further development of the sporting code in the country.
Upon receiving the news of FIFA’s financial pledge, coach of the Solomon Islands futsal team, Juliano Schmeling, said that the new facilities will greatly help the development programme.
“This is a miracle for us. For Solomon Islands as a country it’s a miracle – they are dreaming for that – so it’s big big news. It will make a lot of difference – not just for the national team but for the whole development programme, for the kids, their schools (because right now) we don’t have the facilities to host any tournamen’s,” he said.
