National Futsal Championships In Canberra This Week

The 25th National Futsal (indoor) Championships are being held this week in Canberra and will see 110 teams across multiple age categories battle for the right to be called Australian champions.

The 25th National Futsal (indoor) Championships are being held this week in Canberra and will see 110 teams across multiple age categories battle for the right to be called Australian champions.  The tournament will be played at three venues in the nation's capital and will feature teams from across Australia as well as both a male and female team from the Solomon Islands. FIFA's 5-a-side Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced version of indoor soccer that originated in Uruguay in 1932. Futsal is now played on every continent across the world by 12 million players in over 100 countries. The Opening Ceremony for the 25th National Australian Futsal Championships will be held at 5pm on Monday 12th January 2004 at Southern Cross Stadium Tuggeranong.  The other two venues being used during the tournament are the Southern Cross Stadium at Woden and the ACT Netball Centre at Lyneham.  The tournament will conclude on Thursday 15 January with full tournament details, including fixtures, available at www.actfutsal.asn.au National coach Scott Gilligan shall be attending the Championships and following the tournament a squad will be selected to attend a training camp from Friday 16th January to Sunday 18th January at the Australian Institute of Sport. The 2004 Futsal FIFA World Championship is being held in December in Chinese Taipei.