THAI FUTSAL TO GET USD1.3 MILLION FOR WORLD CUP 2012

Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said plans for the competition were already being rolled out.

“We will upgrade more than 1,200 sports fields in the capital and renovate the Thai-Japanese Youth Welfare stadium,” said Sukhumbhand.

“We will ask the government for more than THB10 million (USD300,000) to build a new indoor stadium for the event on a 20 to 30rai plot. At this stage, Nimibutr National Stadium and Huamark Indoor Stadium have been earmarked as the main venues.”

FAT president Datuk Worawi Makudi said hosting such a world-class tournament will bring several benefits to the country.

“The event might not be comparable to the scale of football’s World Cup – but it is a World Cup nonetheless. There will be 20 countries from around the world competing. This will help improve the game of Futsal as well as boost our economy,” added Worawi.

“We want the whole nation to experience the tournament so we intend to have some games played in Chiang Mai, Phuket and Nakhon Ratchasima.”

Adisak Benjasiriwan, the Thailand team manager, has targeted a place in the quarterfinals for his team, who failed to survive the first round in the last edition in Brazil two years ago.

“We will use the Asian Futsal Championship as part of our preparation for the Cup finals and perhaps send the players to train with clubs in the European leagues,” he added.

“We will need THB40 million (USD1.3 million) over two years for the preparations.”