MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]:
PRESS RELEASE
26-09-2005
Minister Oskanian Receives the “Grosso d’Oro Veneziano” Award in Veneto,
Italy
The Grosso d’Oro Veneziano award was bestowed on Armenia?s Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian by the Masi Foundation of Italy’s Veneto Region, on
September 24. The prize is a special award on an international level for
individuals who have contributed to the cause of peace and brotherhood among
nations. It was conferred on Minister Oskanian for his contribution to
Armenia?s integration into European structures, to the deepening of
Armenia-Italy ties, and for his active involvement in peace talks.
In the 8th century St. George Cathedral in Verona, before several hundred
Italian intellectuals, artists and businessmen, the Masi Foundation held its
25th awards ceremony.
After receiving the award – a sculpture in silver, decorated with grapes as
well as designs from ancient khachkars, and topped with a gold medal- the
Minister spoke about Armenia’s determination to pursue the path of European
integration. He also spoke about traditional Armenian-Italian ties and the
upcoming Italian-Armenian Days in Yerevan.
During the ceremony, other awards were also given to those who protect and
promote Veneto’s historic legacy and cultural values. The Masi Foundation,
in line with its guiding philosophy and with an original policy for
recognizing subtle changes in the world, awarded prizes for excellence in
education, medicine, theater, fashion, as well as in the area of
vinoculture. The Masi Foundation was created and is run by the descendants
of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri.
The only other recipient of the Grosso d’Oro Veneziano has been Slovenia’s
former President, Milan Kucan.
Below is the text of the Minister’s remarks:
Honorable members of the Board of Directors of the Fondazione Masi,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am privileged to receive this prestigious award, il Grosso d’Oro
Veneziano. This is a special day for me. And this is, of course, a special
place, a special foundation and a special family with a glorious history of
650 years stretching all the way back to one of the greatest poets of all
times, Dante Alighieri.
Dante’s descendants valued their heritage and helped pass on his legacy.
This legacy clearly manifests itself in modern Italy and the Region of
Veneto.
Italy and Veneto also share a legacy with Armenians. There is much symbolism
in the fact that Armenia’s coming back to Europe is being noted and
celebrated here, in Italy.
Armenian-Italian connections are based on rich and ancient traditions. It
was in Italy in 1512, that Hakob Meghapart published the first book ever in
Armenian. The Urbatagirk (or Book of Days) was followed in 1513 with the
first published Armenian calendar. The renowned Briton, Lord Byron, referred
to the Venetian island of San Lazaro as a fortress of Armenian independence,
since the Armenian monks of the Order of Mekhitar had found refuge there in
the early 1700s. For the last three centuries, that haven has turned into a
scientific and cultural locus.
Today, if you ask the Mekhitarist fathers whether they are Venetian, they
will say yes. If you ask them whether they are Armenian, they will say yes.
One can say that they were pioneers in establishing a common European
identity, about which we speak proudly, yet with some apprehension.
If it used to be religion that bound Europe together a millennium ago, it
certainly isn’t any longer. Nor is it the economic advancement that was
specific to Europe two centuries ago. It isn?t ideology either, which was
both adhesive and encumbrance for decades in the last century.
Europe is more than its common history, more than geography, more than a
club for members. All those who’ve said Europe is an idea are right. It is
the idea of a Europe that is the common, if unattainable ideal.
Even those living outside this space have imagined and desired a Europe
which can be addressed collectively, a partner which can be enlisted
conveniently, a Europe to which they yearn to belong.
Armenia is Europe. This is a fact, it’s not a response to a question.
The collapse of the USSR brought us to a point of economic and political
crisis. I remember our discussions in Armenia, before our entry into the
Council of Europe. There were many questions about the choice of path to
take.
Dante once said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who
in a period
of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. I’m happy to say I won’t be going
there
because I was among the loudest advocates of the European path.
The choice was clear. Armenians believe in the values of the European
enlightenment, of European civilization. The moral, ethical and existential
choices that bring individuals and societies to select democracy over other
forms of government, rule of law over rule of man, human rights over
selective rights – those choices have been made.
A people who have lived under subjugation, have seen ethnic cleansing and
genocide even before the terms existed, have lived as a minority without
rights, now belong to a world where warring neighbors have found that they
can accept new borders based on realities on the ground and move on.
Europe?s nation-states have found that they can transcend borders, without
diminishing or ignoring cultural spaces, without expecting historical
identities to vanish.
The European Neighborhood Policy brings Armenia back home since Armenia’s
foreign policy priority is the gradual integration of Armenia into European
institutions.
In his presentation, my good friend, Senator Demetro Volcic described in
ponderous detail my country’s foreign policy priorities. I must admit that
he is well aware of them not as a common bystander, but as a caring and
thoughtful professional, who has proven to be instrumental in helping to
integrate Armenia into the modern European architecture.
The double digit GDP growth, which Armenia achieved each of the last five
years, the successful admission into the WTO, the spirit of the free
enterprise, the changing political system and society are promising signs
that we are on the right track. However, it is too early to say that the
European standard is round the corner. It is not as close yet as Europe
itself, as Venice, as Verona, as the shared cultural and religious values of
the past and present.
To highlight and share those values, we will be launching a two-month long
Days of Italy in Armenia, beginning in early October. This project has
received the blessing and patronage of President Ciampi, President Kocharian
and Governor Galan. The centerpiece of these important events will be an
exhibition of the riches from the Isla Armena.
In light of all this, then, the Fondazione Masi has, in bestowing upon me
this award, put a great stamp of approval on Armenia, its foreign policy
directions, its European orientation, its future.
I thank you.

The New York Times
September 26, 2005
Try and Try Again
By GARY J. BASS
Princeton, N.J. – “For these crimes,” wrote Hannah Arendt during the
Nuremberg trials, “no punishment is severe enough. It may well be
essential to hang Göring, but it is totally inadequate.”
Saddam Hussein’s punishment will surely be inadequate too – all the
more so if he is executed too soon.
The Iraqi war crimes tribunal’s first case against Mr. Hussein, which
opens Oct. 19, charges him with the 1982 massacre of at least 143 men
and boys from the village of Dujail. This was meant to be a test case
of manageable scope and strong evidence. Unfortunately, Laith Kubba, a
spokesman for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, says that once the
court has reached a guilty verdict in the Dujail case, the
near-certain sentence of death “should be implemented without further
delay.”
But if Mr. Hussein is executed for the Dujail killings, he will never
be called to account for the larger atrocities on which he was
arraigned in July 2004: killing political rivals, crushing the Shiite
uprising in southern Iraq in 1991, invading Kuwait in 1990, and waging
the genocidal Anfal campaign against the Kurds in 1988, including
gassing Kurdish villagers at Halabja.
It is easy to understand the temptation to get the high-profile trial
over with quickly. The lives of the tribunal’s officials – including
the young chief investigative judge, Raid Juhi, who confronted
Mr. Hussein in a televised courtroom showdown – are at constant risk
from the raging insurgency. And the international tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia, where Slobodan Milosevic has dragged his trial into
its fourth year with his theatrics, furnishes a cautionary example. A
shorter trial would afford less time for Mr. Hussein to make defiant
final speeches to Arab nationalists.
What’s more, the tribunal is a political football. The Dujail trial is
set to start just four days after Iraq’s referendum on its draft
constitution – a time when ethnic rivalries will probably run high –
and not long before the Dec. 15 elections. Saleh al-Mutlak, a former
Baathist who led the Sunni delegation’s rejection of the draft
constitution, has accused the Iraqi government of speeding Mr. Hussein
to trial in order to win election-season political points, presumably
with Shiites and Kurds. Mr. Mutlak menacingly warns that the trial
could touch off more violence.
Nonetheless, the Iraqi tribunal would do well not to rush Mr. Hussein
to the gallows. A hasty execution would shortchange Mr. Hussein’s
victims and diminish the benefits of justice. Baathists would be all
the more likely to complain about a show trial. Kurds would rightly
feel that they were denied their day in court for the Anfal
campaign. Shiites in the south would also be deprived of a reckoning.
A thorough series of war crimes trials would not only give the victims
more satisfaction but also yield a documentary and testimonial record
of the regime’s crimes. After Nuremberg, the American chief prosecutor
estimated that he had assembled a paper trail of more than five
million pages. A comparably intensive Iraqi process would help drive
home to former Baathists and some Arab nationalists what was done in
their names. The alternative is on display in Turkey, where the
collapse of a war crimes tribunal after World War I paved the way for
today’s widespread Turkish nationalist denial of the Armenian
genocide.
In June, Mr. Kubba said that Mr. Hussein could face as many as 500
charges, but that Iraqi prosecutors would pursue only about 12
well-documented counts. Now it may be down to just one. Because Iraq
and the United States have chosen the hard road of courtroom justice,
the war crimes tribunal should see it through. The Dujail case is a
good start but not a good finish.
Gary J. Bass, an associate professor of politics and international
affairs at Princeton, is the author of “Stay the Hand of Vengeance:
The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals.”

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

A1+
| 14:12:09 | 25-09-2005 | Politics |
MARKET ELECTIONS
At about 12:00 the electoral area N9/15 of the Kentron community reminded a
medieval market. The chairs for observers were taken by young people without
certificates. When the «A1+» journalist tried to find out who they are, the
Committee head explained that the «voluntary observers» do not feel well.
There was a huge queue in the electoral area, and one could not understand
who was an elector and who was not. Hence there were disagreements between
the members of the Committee and the confidants of the candidates. For
example, the confidant of Rouzan Khachatryan was not allowed to observe the
passports. About 20 young people tried to fulfill their civic duty twice,
member of the Committee, representative of the Justice bloc Anahit Gasparyan
informed.
A 17-year-old boy who does not have suffrage also tried to participate in
the elections.
According to the head of the Committee David Tovmasyan, there were mistakes
in the electoral rolls: 14 citizens did not find their names in the rolls,
ad 15 were not residents of the community.
The situation was soothed in the electoral area in an hour only, when the
confidant of Rouzan Khachatryan complained of the situation and left the
area without realizing who was an elector and who was not.

Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English
25 Sep 05
Turkey: Views expressed at Ottoman Armenians conference, protesters
throw eggs
Istanbul, 25 September: “Ittihat and Terakki Party (Party of Union
and Progress) had a plan to purify whole Anatolia from the non-Turks,
starting from the Aegean Region, before the World War I, and this
plan was carried out in entire Anatolia during the years of the war
(World War I)”, argued Associate Professor Taner Akcam of Minnesota
University.
Taking the floor on the second day of the conference titled “The
Armenians during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire” held at
Istanbul’s Bilgi University, Akcam said that the relocation decision
was made at the end of long discussions and debates.
“The Ottoman documents indicate that the decision to relocate the
Armenians was made to end a deeper problem defined as the ‘eastern
problem’ and to end the dissolution process of the Ottoman Empire.
This decision was not a result of a need that erupted during the war.
There are many documents in hand with respect to the destruction of
Armenians,” claimed Akcam.
On the other hand, Dr Ahmet Kuyas of Galatasaray University referred
to the four members of the Ittihat and Terakki Party, and said that a
serious massacre was made those days. According to Kuyas, the
architect of this massacre was Enver Pasha. Kuyas expressed his view
that the other three people who were responsible for these massacres
were Talat Pasha, Dr Bahattin Sakir and Dr Nazim.
Also speaking at the conference, Professor Baskin Oran of Ankara
University’s Political Sciences Department said: “Concept of class,
criticisms of Ataturk, Cyprus, socialism, communism and Kurdistan are
no more taboos in Turkey. There was only one taboo left, and it was
Armenian issue. Now, it is no more a taboo.”
Referring to Armenian Diaspora, Oran said: “Diaspora talks about
‘recognition, compensation and territory’, and this prevents
‘recognition’. Nobody in Turkey can think of paying compensation for
things that an empire (Ottoman Empire), the alphabet of which you
have abandoned, did. Moreover, territory claims are nonsense.”
Oran pointed out that assassins of Turkish diplomats should not
remain unpunished, and added, “assassins of 35-40 Turkish diplomats
were not punished or sentenced to minor punishments. And, this caused
as much reaction in Turkey as the 1915 incidents caused in Armenia.
And, this was the factor which increased this taboo in Turkey.”
Before the conference started, a group of people who were the members
of the Grand Unity Party (BBP) threw rotten tomatoes and eggs to
participants and the building where the conference is being held.
Also, the audience was protested by the group.

Associated Press Worldstream
September 25, 2005 Sunday
Police arrest dozens of Azerbaijani opposition parties amid attempted
unauthorized protest
AIDA SULTANOVA; Associated Press Writer
BAKU, Azerbaijan
Opposition activists clashed with riot police Sunday as Azerbaijan’s
largest opposition alliance defied authorities’ refusal to allow a
protest rally – fueling fears of growing unrest in the Caspian Sea
nation just weeks before parliamentary elections.
Opposition leaders said dozens were beaten and arrested in the
confrontations, which were abruptly suspended after authorities
called for surprise negotiations to try and calm spiraling tensions
in the oil-rich former Soviet republic that borders Iran.
“Our goal is free, democratic elections,” party leader Ibraghim
Veliyev said, adding that he was hit by police truncheons during
Sunday’s rally. “In spite of everything, we will continue our
struggle. Authorities must understand that the country needs
changes.”
Rising tensions before the Nov. 6 vote have led some observers to
predict that Azerbaijan could see a mass uprising similar to those
that brought opposition leaders to power in Georgia, Ukraine and
Kyrgyzstan. The mostly Muslim nation of 8.3 million is the starting
point for a pipeline that will ship oil and gas from Azerbaijan’s
huge offshore reserves to a Turkish Mediterranean port.
Though the opposition has held nearly weekly demonstrations, Sunday’s
was the first mass protest to be held without official permission
since the October 2003 presidential election, which the opposition
said was rigged and which sparked rioting.
President Ilham Aliev, who succeeded his late, strongman father in
that election, has pledged repeatedly that the November elections
would will be free. Opposition leaders said, however, they strongly
doubted the vote would be fair.
Hundreds of activists on one Baku street chanted “Resign!” and “Free
Elections!” and carried red carnations as they confronted a row of
riot police. As they tried to break through the cordon, officers
using truncheons beat them back and forced them to flee.
Isak Avazogli, a spokesman for the People’s Front of Azerbaijan, one
of three parties making up the Azadlig opposition alliance, said more
than 100 people were detained. City police officials said 15 officers
were injured in the clashes and 42 activists were detained.
“This is an unsanctioned action, and police were performing their
duties,” deputy city police chief Yasar Aliyev said.
Appealing for calm, opposition leaders held 30 minutes of closed door
negotiations with authorities – an unprecedented decision by a
government that has kept the opposition at arm’s length.
“It’s clear that authorities, on the eve of parliamentary elections,
fear they will find themselves in an unpleasant situation before the
world community,” political analyst Rasim Musabekov said. “There is
not the slightest doubt that the elections will be falsified; the
question is will it be completely falsified.”
One opposition party spokesman said Laura Scheibe, a political
officer with the U.S. Embassy in Baku, had participated in the talks.
Scheibe could not be located for comment, and no one answered phones
at the embassy Sunday.
Party leader Ali Kerimli said the law stipulates that the opposition
must only notify authorities before staging rallies. Government
officials disagreed, but said they would hold further discussions
Monday about the legality of future rallies, he said.
“We are not the same opposition as before; we are more united in our
strength,” he said.
More than 2,000 candidates are running for 125 seats in parliament.
Even before the formal beginning of the election campaign earlier
this month, allegations that authorities were trying to discredit the
opposition had arisen.
Two activists with an opposition youth organization were arrested
last month, accused of receiving money from Armenian agents in
exchange for organizing an uprising in Azerbaijan. The two deny the
charges and say Azerbaijan’s secret service was responsible.
Authorities have also vowed to arrest former parliament speaker Rasul
Guliyev, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States
since 1996, should he return to Azerbaijan. Guliyev is running for
parliament, as is another opposition figure, Ayaz Mutalibov, a former
president who also lives in self-imposed exile in Moscow.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
September 23, 2005 Friday
Armenia holds no talks on gas transit to Ukraine-energy minister
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
Armenia is conducting no negotiations on the transit of Iranian gas
to Ukraine or to Europe, Energy Minister Armen Movsesian has told a
news conference.
“It is up to Iran and Ukraine to discuss such matters. As long as
there have been no negotiations on that score, discussing the
participation of other countries in such projects will make no
sense,” he said.
The gas pipeline from Iran will go operational 4-5 months earlier
than expected, by the autumn of 2006, Movsesian said. Armenia plans
to increase the pipeline’s throughput between Kadjaran-Yerevan. The
Iran-Armenia pipeline began to be laid on November 30, 2004. Under
the contract it is expected to go be commissioned by January 1, 2007.
Over a period of 20 years Iran will supply to Armenia 36 billion
cubic meters of natural gas in exchange for electricity.
Movsesian said Iran will invest 150 million dollars in the
construction of the fifth unit of the Razdan thermoelectric power
plant. When upgraded, this power unit will increase the power plant’s
capacity to 450 megawatts. The facility’s economic parameters will
then match all international standards.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
September 24, 2005, Saturday
08:35:12 Central European Time
Protests in Istanbul as Armenian genocide conference begins
Ankara
Right and left-wing nationalists joined forces in Istanbul on
Saturday to protest the start of an academic conference looking into
the massacres of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in Turkey during
and after the First World War.
Hundreds of police officers were on duty at Bigli University ensuring
that only those invited to the conference were allowed onto the
campus while protesters shouted pro-Turkish slogans outside. There
were no reports of violence.
The conference has been extremely controversial as Turkey refuses to
accept that the deaths of as many as 1.5 million Armenians
constitutes genocide. The official state line is that massacres did
occur but they were a result of Armenians living in what was then the
Ottoman Empire rising up against the state in support of invading
Russian forces.
Armenian historians argue that the massacres and the state policy of
deporting Armenians who were forced to march into the deserts of what
is now Syria was a clear act of genocide.
More than a dozen European countries have passed resolutions
specifically stating that the events of 1915 did constitute a
genocide and that Turkey should accept this and make appropriate
apologies.
The “Ottoman Armenians during the Demise of Empire” conference has
been dogged by controversy since it was planned to go ahead in May.
It was originally postponed after Justice Minister Cemil Cicek
described those participating as stabbing Turkey in the back. After
Cicek softened his words and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
he believed it to be in the interests of democracy and history, the
organizers planned to start the conference on Friday at Bogazici and
Sabanci universities.
The conference appeared to have been put on hold once more when it
emerged on Thursday night that a court in Istanbul had banned the
conference. Organizers found a loophole in the ruling, however, and
moved the conference to Bilgi University.
The controversial conference comes two weeks after prosecutors filed
charges against Turkey’s internationally famous author Orhan Pamuk
for “denigrating the country” when he told a Swiss news magazine that
“a million Armenians were killed”. Pamuk faces up to three years
imprisonment if found guilty. dpa cw pmc

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Sept 23 2005
ARMEN RUSTAMIAN: NOT ACCEPTING KARABAKH AS A NEGOTIATIONS PARTY,
AZERBAIJAN FACTUALLY AVOIDS PEACEFUL NEGOTIATIONS
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. No complete negotiations go on
the Karabakh settlement today. Armen Rustamian, a representative of
the ARF Supreme Body of Armenia, the Chairman of the NA Standing
Committee on Foreing Relations, expressed such a confidence at the
September 22 press-conference. According to him, today meetings,
consultations take place, but no negotiations: “No real negotiations
can be spoken on as Nagorno Karabakh is not present at the
negotiations as a party.” According to Rustamian, refusing to
recognize Nagorno Karabakh as a side, Azerbaijan, factually, avoids
peaceful negotiations, by this approving that it prefers the way of
war solution.
According to Armen Rustamian, Armenia can represent and protect
approaches of Karabakh in all those instances where the NKR hasn’t
been represented yet because of its being unrecognized, but it may
never take the place of Karabakh. According to him, no document
concerning the problem settlement, adopted without the participation
of Karabakh may be legal. According to Rustamian, there are issues
which are just under commission of Nagorno Karabakh, and Armenia may
not reach agreements on those issues. The problem of territories is
particularly among them as today those are factually guarantees of
the security of the people of Karabakh, and today this people has no
other real guarantee of security.
According to Rustamian if Azerbaijan tries to replace the discussion
of the issue to the UN platform without the participation of Nagorno
Karabakh Armenia should not participate in that discussion.
According to him, it’s impossible to solve all problems put on
negotiations at the same time that’s why “the agreement must be
package and the solution phasal.” “I won’t be against such phasal
solution when the issue of the status of Karabakh is solved first,”
ARF SB representative stated.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Sept 23 2005
Suspension Of Academic Conference On Armenian Issue
ISTANBUL – Several groups held demonstrations in front of Istanbul’s
Bogazici University on Friday to protest an academic conference on
the Armenian issue which was suspended by the court.
Members of the Culture & Ethics Association hang photographs of women
and children who were killed by Armenian gangs during the World War I
on fences surrounding the university campus.
Meanwhile, members of the National Power Platform held another
protest to support decision of the court.
Kemal Kerincsiz, chairman of the Platform and a member of the
Executive Board of the Lawyers’ Association, said, ”yesterday, the
Armenian issue was debated at the European Parliament and a
parliamentarian said, ‘they (Turkish authorities) gave us a promise.
How could they suspend the conference now?’ Now we want to know who
has given those promises? Was it the prime minister or the foreign
minister? We expect Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to make a
statement.”
”The conference is not scientific at all. It aims to explain biased
views of the Armenian diaspora,” he said.
Kerincsiz kept on saying, ”Turkish nation has the most honorable and
cleanest history of the world. There is nothing to be ashamed of in
our history including relocation of Armenians in 1915 due to security
reasons. Turkey has already opened its archives to researches.
According to documents in those archives, 527 thousand Turkish people
were massacred by Armenian gangs.”
Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of the Patriotic Movement, Bedri
Baykam, a prominent Turkish painter, said, ”some circles wanted to
organize this conference with extremely biased, antidemocratic and
misleading mentality.”
In another part of Istanbul, members of the Association of Retired
Officers held a demonstration to protest the conference.
Riza Kucukoglu, chairman of the Association said, ”we respect
decision of the court. We believe that the Bogazici University was
saved from an Armenian occupation after the decision of the court.”
A court in Istanbul ordered the suspension of the academic conference
on ”Armenians in the Late Ottoman Empire: Scientific Responsibility
and Democracy Problems”. The conference was originally scheduled for
May but was postponed as a result of severe criticisms. The case to
cancel the conference was brought by lawyers who are members of the
Foundation of Turkish Lawyers’ Union.

Dansk Boldspil-Union, Denmark
Sept 23 2005
English Futsal on the up
Gary Macbeth, event director of the UEFA Futsal Cup preliminary round
in London, says the event has shown how the game in England is
developing.
Competitive European Futsal came to the capital of England for the
first time last week – and the finish could not have been more
exciting.
Heartbreaking exit
Hosts London White Bear FC, having lost to Dinamo Tirana but defeated
France’s Roubaix Futsal, went into their last UEFA Futsal Cup
preliminary round game needing what seemed an unlikely two-goal win
against experienced Tal Grig Yerevan, and the odds increased when the
Armenian champions scored after only ten seconds. But London
equalised early in the second half and took the lead late on, and
when the whistle went there was some number crunching before they
realised that Yerevan and Dinamo Tirana had pipped them on
head-to-head record, on goals scored.
Praise for city
The chance to come to London was relished by the visiting teams.
Roubaix president Messaoud Ferkioui said: “We have learned so much
just being in London, it has confounded our expectations. It is as
beautiful as Paris!” Yerevan coach Ruben Nazaretyan added: “We
enjoyed it – thank you London!”
English improvement
London’s performance shows the development that is taking place in
English Futsal, as promoted by the Football Association (FA) and the
burgeoning leagues. One prominent example is the Futsal Premier
League (FPL), whose CEO Gary Macbeth was the event director of the
mini-tournament at the Crystal Palace National Sports Arena.
‘Fantastic experience’
Eastern European-influenced London are the current FPL champions, and
Macbeth told uefa.com: “This truly was a fantastic experience for our
team in hosting this event and bringing European competition to our
shores. The opportunity to offer a higher level of Futsal was a real
treat and we hope the Futsal fans that came out to support the event
thought so too. For me personally, I think it was also a huge success
in demonstrating the positive results that can come from UEFA and the
FA working with league organisations like the FPL to advance Futsal.”
‘Desperately unlucky’
Macbeth was certainly pleased with London’s performance in
representing his league and English Futsal. “Having not seen the
other teams, I had no idea really what to expect from them or how
well the White Bear team would do,” he said. “They were desperately
unlucky not to qualify. Winning two games, including coming from
behind and beat the group winners Yerevan, is a testimony to the
improvement in Futsal in this country over the last few years.”
Brazilian influence
He added: “The standards have raised here in the UK.. The competitive
league structure is going from strength to strength. The Futsal
Premier League is fortunate in that we benefit from a strong presence
of Brazilian and Eastern European teams. This is a definite help in
raising the level of the game overall.”
Future years
Next year’s English representatives will be Doncaster College for the
Deaf from the Sheffield and Hallamshire County FA’s Elite Futsal
league, who beat London in this year’s national finals. But there is
no doubt that London’s performance on their European debut has raised
the expectations for English teams, and Macbeth hopes that
improvement will continue.
Benefit gained
“I think the teams know now they can compete in Europe,” he said.
“There’s still a long way to go, but only by competing at that level
can teams learn what it will take. The cost of international fixtures
is high of course, but the benefit from the experience is significant
and obvious. It’s our hope of course to continue now in working
closely with UEFA and the FA, but any sponsors out there who love
football, should seriously take a look at Futsal.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress