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AFC President sends best wishes to Asia’s contenders

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021 (© FIFA)
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021 (© FIFA)

As Asia’s challengers set their sights on the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021™, which kicks off on Thursday, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has conveyed his best wishes to Japan, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates ahead of their quest for glory on the world stage in Moscow.

The AFC President said: “On behalf of the Asian football family, I would like to wish our three Asian teams – Japan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates as well as our world-class match officials, the very best of success in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021.

“Our beach soccer teams have performed remarkably well in recent years and their accomplishments along with those of our match officials have underlined the AFC’s ambitions to shine on the world stage, and I am confident that our representatives will leave a lasting impact on the tournament.”

The 11th edition of the global showpiece in Russia will be held in its entirety at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, where the world champions will be crowned on August 29. United Arab Emirates, who featured in both the Bahamas 2017 and Paraguay 2019 editions, will open the tournament against 2015 and 2017 runners up Tahiti in Group B on Thursday at 3pm local time.

Defending Asian champions Japan will feature in the opening day’s second fixture when they face off against Group A opponents and 2017 Quarter-finalists Paraguay at 4:30pm. The East Asians will be looking to surpass their fourth place finishes attained in the last edition as well as the inaugural showpiece in 2005.

2015 Continental champions Oman, who are making their fourth appearance at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, will reignite their rivalry against defending champions Portugal in Group D in what promises to be an epic contest on Friday at 7:00pm.

Meanwhile, four AFC match officials will represent Asia in Russia 2021, with the highly-experienced Suhaimi Mat Hassan from Malaysia poised for his fifth appearance on the global beach soccer stage.

He will be joined by Oman’s Turki Abdullah Said Al Salehi, who officiated in the 2019 AFC Beach Soccer Championship Final in Thailand and will be making his second appearance in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup since 2015.

Japan’s Yuichi Hatano has also been appointed for the second time since 2017 while Ebrahim Akbarpour from the Islamic Republic of Iran will be making his debut.

(Asian Football Confederation)