A TOP Dublin soccer club has formed a multinational team to play in the FAI League of Ireland’s futsal league.
Famous Inchicore outfit St Patrick’s Athletic FC has recruited immigrants, including Brazilians and Poles, alongside a Romanian manager, to play in the highly competitive league, the winners of which will represent Ireland in Europe.
Ovidiu Matiut, futsal team manager with St Patrick’s Athletic, commented: “The mixture of skills and styles between Polish and Brazilian players, combined with our desire to win and our vast knowledge and experience of the game, enables us to have a clear advantage over Irish opponents to whom the game is still new.”
Frank Buckley, chief executive of Sport Against Racism Ireland (Sari), supported the idea, explaining that his organisation encourages mainstream clubs to send representatives to futsal tournaments in order to poach players for their teams, encouraging integration through sport.
Derek O’Neill, the FAI’s futsal co-ordinator, said the foreign players “come from countries of established futsal culture with great experience and skills, but still have an eagerness to learn and develop.
“They also give Irish players a chance to learn the intricacies of futsal, a different style of football than what they are used to.”
The FAI League of Ireland Futsal League is currently playing its indoor winter fixtures at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght and at Dublin City University (DCU) on Dublin’s northside.
FAI League of Ireland Futsal League-Indoor Fixtures
Group stages
National Basketball Arena – Saturday 16 February
Dublin City University – Saturday 23 February and 1 March
Quarter-Finals
National Basketball Arena – Saturday 15 March
Semi-Finals & Final
National Basketball Arena – Sunday 16 March
Contacts:
Derek O’Neill, FAI futsal co-ordinator (Tel: 087 207 9182; E-mail: derek.oneill@fai.ie)
Ovidiu Matiut, St Patrick’s Athletic futsal team manager (E-mail: futsal@eircom.net)
