Iranians favourites to win another Futsal crown

The stage is set for the AFC Futsal Championship, being held at Al Wasl and Al Shabab Club from tomorrow. The organising committee, accompanied by the AFC delegation that arrived in Dubai last week, conducted a detailed inspection of the venues before giving them the green light for the tournament, which features 16 teams. New flooring brought in from South Korea has been layed specifically for the competition, in which Iran are hot favourites to win another title. The state-of-the-art surface is designed to enhance the safety of the players taking part.The draws were conducted earlier this year in Dubai with the UAE placed in Group A along with Turkmenistan, Thailand and Kyrgyzstan. Partnership "I am overjoyed to see the utmost efforts being exerted during the last few weeks by all the members of the organising committees in ensuring the success of this competition," said Dr Ahmad Sa'ad Al Sharif, Secretary-General of Dubai Sports Council. "The UAE sets a standard while hosting such competition and this partnership with the Sharjah Sports Council has further enhanced the status of this championship that is bound to get due mileage for the UAE." Meanwhile, Kuwait were among the last teams to land at the Dubai International Airport where they were welcomed by members of the organising committee. The South Korean team arrived in Dubai last week and have out the final touches on their preparations with friendly matches against Lebanon and Tajikistan. "We have been placed in one of the most competitive groups that include Australia, Qatar and Iran, one of the top favourites for the title," said coach Lee Chang-hoon. Extreme progress "However, we are here to give a good account of our capability through our performances as we see the game making extreme progress in South Korea since the past few years." The competition is being jointly organised by the Dubai and Sharjah Sports Councils under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the DSC. The four semi-finalists will automatically qualify for the Fifa Futsal World Cup to be held in Thailand capital Bangkok, in November. GROUPINGS Group A: UAE, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan; Group B: Japan, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Lebanon; Group C: Iran, Australia, Qatar, South Korea; Group D: Uzbekistan, Indonesia, China, Kuwait.