"VAN" (Sports / International Desk) :: Matches of the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup should be played at Red Square in Moscow, Mikhail Likhachev, the head coach of the Russian national beach soccer team, told TASS on Wednesday.
A decision to award the Russian capital of Moscow the right to host the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was made during the FIFA Council meeting in China’s Shanghai in late October. Two other contenders to host the global beach soccer event in 2021 were FESFUT (Salvadorian Football Association) and the Chilean Football Association.
"If someone asks me where I wish to see the organization of the tournament’s matches, I will say that I want to see them played on Red Square. This is a venue No. 1 for me," Likhachev said in an interview with Russian News Agency .
After the Russian capital was selected as the host of the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup an official website of the Moscow municipal authorities launched a public voting to choose among four proposed venues, including Red Square, where the matches of the global championship would be played. The voting on the venue is still underway.
Likhachev also told agency that he was set to make a decision in late December on extending his contract with the Russian national beach soccer team in the capacity of the head coach.
"My contract with the RFU [the Russian Football Union] expires this month," he said. "It will be clear in the late December whether I will prolong this contract," he said.
Likhachev joined the Russian national beach soccer team as an acting head coach in 2010 and signed a contract in February 2011 to officially take charge of the national squad. He led the Russian national team to win two of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups (2011, 2013), five of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) tournaments (2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017), two of the Euro Beach Soccer Cups (2010, 2012), three Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cups (2011, 2012, 2015) and the 2015 European Games.
The first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was held back in 1995 and Russia has never hosted this international event. The Russian national beach soccer team won the World Championships twice (in 2011 and 2013).
The 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was hosted between November 21 and December 1 by Paraguay’s Asuncion, where the Russian national team won the bronze edging Japan (5-4) in the match for third place. The Portuguese squad won the championship in Paraguay defeating Italy 6-4 in the final.
Cr :: TASS
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