The Union of European Football Associations is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as the West Asian countries of Cyprus, Armenia and Israel. UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Since 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.
Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt like a basketball court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football.
In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics based in weighted arithmetic means used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Introduced in 1979 for men's football tournaments, and after applied in women's football and futsal, the coefficients are calculated by UEFA, who administer football within Europe, and the Asian parts of some transcontinental countries.
The UEFA Futsal Champions League is an annual futsal competition for European club teams organized by UEFA. It was founded as the UEFA Futsal Cup in 2001 and replaced the Futsal European Clubs Championship, an unofficial competition held since 1984. The final of the first edition was played in a single game in Lisbon, while the following four editions were decided over two legs. Since 2006–07, the winner is decided through a final four tournament.
The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherlands, the tournament has been held every four years since 1992 in the even year between two 11-a-side World Cups.
Sport Lisboa e Benfica, commonly known as Benfica, is a professional futsal team based in Lisbon, Portugal, that plays in the Liga Portuguesa de Futsal.
The Futsal Africa Cup of Nations is the main national futsal competition of the Confederation of African Football nations. It was first held in 1996 and has been played every four years. It is a qualification to FIFA Futsal World Cup.
The Thailand national futsal team represents Thailand in international futsal competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Thailand.
The Japan national beach soccer team represents Japan in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the JFA, the governing body for football in Japan. One of the leading Asian beach soccer teams, Japan's best performance at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was in the 2021 edition, when they were runners-up to the hosts Russia, which played as the Russian Football Union (RFU).
The Solomon Islands national futsal team, nicknamed Kurukuru, represents the Solomon Islands in international futsal competitions and is controlled by the Solomon Islands Football Federation. It is one of the strongest teams in Oceania, but fares poorly in competitions outside the region.
The Azerbaijan national futsal team is the national futsal team of Azerbaijan and is controlled by the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan. It represents Azerbaijan in international futsal competitions such as the FIFA Futsal World Cup and the European Championships. They are ranked 13th in the world, the highest-ranking team from Caucasus in the World Rankings. They are also ranked 7th in Europe on 10 August 2021.
MFK Tyumen is a professional futsal club based in Tyumen, Russia. Founded in 1999, the club competes in the Russian Futsal Super League since 2003–04.
Pavel Valeryevich Durov is a Russian business executive and entrepreneur serving as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Telegram since 2013.
The Georgia national futsal team is controlled by the Georgian Football Federation, the governing body for futsal in Georgia and represents the country in international futsal competitions, such as the World Cup and the European Championships.
Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh Navlighi is an Iranian professional futsal player. He is a Left Winger, and currently a member of Giti Pasand in the Iranian Futsal Super League and the Iran national futsal team. Hassanzadeh is regarded as one of the greatest Asian futsal players in history and has been named AFC Futsal Player of the Year four times and was a nominee for World Futsal Player of the Year in 2015. He is also the all time top goalscorer of the AFC Futsal Club Championship with 33 goals.
Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) is one of five regional bodies that govern association football in Asia. It governs association football, futsal, and beach football in Central Asia. Headquartered in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, CAFA consists of six full national association members i.e Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan with India & Oman as invitational members.
Pavel Igorevich Drozd is a Russian ice dancer who currently competes with Elizaveta Shanaeva. With his former skating partner, Alla Loboda, he is a two-time World Junior medalist, a three-time JGP Final silver medalist, and the 2016 Russian junior national champion. With his former skating partner, Ksenia Konkina, he is the 2019 CS Asian Open Trophy and 2019 CS Warsaw Cup silver medalist.
Pavel Aleksandrovich Kulizhnikov is a Russian speed skater. He won the men's 500 metres event at the 2015 World Single Distance Championships as well as the 2015 World Sprint Championships, becoming the youngest winner since speed skating icon Eric Heiden of the United States. In 2015, he became the first speed skater to finish the 500-meter in under 34 seconds with a world record of 33.98. In 2020 he became the first speed skater to break 1:06 in the 1000 metres. At the 2016 World Single Distance Championships, Kulizhnikov won the men's 500 m and 1000 m, becoming the first man to win gold in both distances at the same speed skating World Single Distances Championships.
The UEFA European Women's Futsal Championship is the main futsal competition of the women's national futsal teams governed by UEFA.
The 2020 AFC Futsal Championship would have been the 16th edition of the AFC Futsal Championship, the biennial international futsal championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's national teams of Asia. A total of 16 teams would have taken part in the tournament.
