National coach Zakirov's concern is absence of futsal league

National football team coach Farrukh Zakirov has stated that the biggest challenge the national futsal team has is the absence of a futsal league in Maldives. Uzbekistan Women's Futsal Team coach Zakirov will be instructing the Maldives national futsal team during the SAFF Futsal Championship next month.

Zakirov came to Maldives this week and has begun attending team practice sessions.

He said that there is a lot of work to be done to heighten the quality of the Maldivian team. He also said his biggest target is to prepare and strengthen the team for the championship as best he can within the short time left.

A squad of 25 players are under his national team training regimen. He has said that he will reduce the number of players to 14 as the championship nears.

"Futsal is a completely different type of work," said Zakirov in an interview he gave to PSM.

Fustal is an indoor game. The national team conducts practice sessions in the mini turf next to Hulhumale' Rehendhi School. Zakirov said that after practice sessions are held for a month, he would work to leave for China within 10 to 14 days of the championship starting to conduct indoor training.

While futsal popularity has grown, Maldives does not have an indoor futsal court.

"We have to work to better all our players. Reason being that Maldives does not have a Futsal league," said Zakirov.

"These players need a lot of experience before playing against national teams."

He went on to say that the SAFF Futsal Championship is important to the progress of futsal in Maldives.

"The SAFF championship is a good tournament to bring out a good result. This will build a lot of trust in the teams for the progress of Maldivian futsal," said Zakirov.

Zakirov is an experienced professional who also works with the Uzbek Futsal League club, Neftchi. Although his official role will be with the Men's Futsal Team, FAM has confirmed that he will also be providing assistance to the local coaches in preparing the Women's National Futsal Team for the SAFF tournament. His temporary release from Neftchi for the Maldivian assignment was agreed upon between the club and FAM.

The first SAFF Futsal Championship will see the Women's Division and Men's Division simultaneously. FAM has said that Zakirov will offer his aid to Maldivian coaches to prepare the National Women's Futsal team for the championship. The SAFF Futsal Championship will be held in Thailand, starting on January 12th with the opening match between the Maldives Women's Team and India.