How about football powerhouses such as Argentina, Brazil, France, and Germany playing five-a-side? , another first international competition in Asia opens in Shanghai
At 19:30 on the evening of June 9, the World University Futsal Championship, which was settled in Asia for the first time, opened in Shanghai, China, becoming the only World University Championship in China in 2024. On June 10, the Dragon Boat Festival, the seven-day international football match officially kicked off. 27 men's and women's football teams from 17 countries and regions including Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Portugal, Croatia, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia competed against each other.
World University Futsal Championship trophy.
The World University Futsal Championship is hosted by the International University Sports Federation and is held every two years. It has been held 17 times so far. In 1984, the first FISU World University Futsal Championship was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Since then, more than 400 athletes and coaches from nearly 20 countries have participated in each session. In the 2010 Novi Sad Championship in Serbia, the women's game was also officially included in the World University Futsal Championship.
On February 4 this year, in the final round of the 2024 Chinese Football Association Futsal International Invitational Tournament, the Chinese team lost 1-6 to the Czech team and finished fourth. Photo by reporter Li Yibo
Shanghai, China, became the host of the 2024 event in December 2019, after nearly five years of joint preparation. This year, China sent two men's and women's teams to participate in this championship, while Hong Kong, China sent a men's team to participate. Depending on the number of participating teams, 68 games are planned. The competition venues are located at the Shanghai University of Engineering and Technology Songjiang Campus Gymnasium, Shanghai Sport University Songjiang Campus Gymnasium, Songjiang District Gymnasium, etc.
On the 9th, the organizing committee released the trophy and game ball before the game. The relevant press conference revealed that the preparations for the competition adhere to the concepts of "simplicity, safety and sustainable development", and hope that all athletes will demonstrate superb skills, adhere to the spirit of sports, adhere to fair competition, achieve good results in the competition, and enjoy their Wonderful trip in Shanghai.
“I am very happy to see that the FISU World University Football Championship will be held in the magical city of Shanghai, China.” Sami Alfons Garabedian, FISU Executive Committee and Chairman of the Tournament Supervision Committee, expressed his sincere gratitude to Shanghai University of Engineering and Technology and China The Student Sports Association would like to express its heartfelt thanks for hosting this exciting event that is overdue for three years, and also express its heartfelt thanks to all those who have always cared about and supported the development of world university student sports.
In addition to the competition, the competition will also hold a variety of cultural activities to allow participants to experience local culture first-hand and promote mutual understanding and cultural exchanges. "We need sports to set the stage and culture to add to the fun, and use this event as an important window to promote Chinese traditional culture to the world." Zhu Xiaoqing, vice chairman and secretary-general of the organizing committee, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and vice president of Shanghai University of Engineering and Technology, said that the organizing committee We have specially launched cultural experience day themed activities, hoping that college athletes from all over the world can experience the extraordinary charm of Chinese civilization after competing.
The reporter saw that the overall shape of the competition emblem consists of the image of Shanghai's city flower "White Magnolia", the initial letter U of University and a football with a star-shaped decorative pattern, conveying the "2024 World University Futsal Championship" in Shanghai. Friendship, fair competition principles, and a sincere, noble and simple spiritual style.
It is worth mentioning that the mascot of this tournament is named "Lanlan", which is designed using anthropomorphic artistic techniques. The head is made of the city flower white magnolia, and the five petals symbolize futsal. echo the theme.
Shanghai Vice Mayor Xie Dong and others attended the opening ceremony.