Beach soccer to set dates for clinic

Interim executive secretary general Weekly Mwale said the committee wanted teams to be set up as soon as possible.
“Our meeting will be here in Hwange on Monday. While all the logistics are generally in place, it is the dates at which this inaugural              clinic will be held that we are yet to come up with,” said the former Hwange and Zimbabwe Under-17 coach.

The Beach Soccer Zimbabwe secretary general Chris Nhari is expected to be the instructor of the course that is targeting former players and teachers.
“The course will probably run for the whole week and we are looking at about 60 participants from all the seven districts of Matabeleland North,” said Mwale.
Beach Soccer started in Brazil and has grown to be an international game. The participation of internationally renowned players such as flamboyant Frenchman and former

Manchester United player Eric Cantona, legendary Spanish strikers Michel and Julio Salinas and Brazilian stars such as Romario, Junior and Zico has helped to expand television coverage to more than 170 countries worldwide, making Beach Soccer one of the fastest growing professional sports in the world and converting it into a major showcase for international commercial opportunity.

It is recognised by Fifa with the biggest tournament being the World Cup, played after every two years across the world. Pioneers of the football version, Brazil, won the cup two times in the last three tournaments before losing it to Russia in Italy last year.

From 1995 to 2005, teams were selected for the World Cup as opposed to competing to qualify. However with the interest from so many countries, Fifa decided to standardise the format for the World Cup in 2006. Fifa agreed that countries from each confederation will play in Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifiers, with 16 teams eventually qualifying for the finals. The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has two slots while Uefa has five, the highest number of entrants.

The national soccer motherbody, Zifa, has already endorsed the sport in the country.