Beach soccer in Turkmenistan: prospects and opportunities
The climate of Turkmenistan creates excellent prerequisites for the development of beach football in the country, and there are more and more fans of this sport around the world.
The starting step in this regard can be the construction of appropriate stadiums for matches, both in the capital and in other regions of Turkmenistan, in accordance with the rules of the International Football Federation (FIFA).
Unlike the traditional, teams in beach football are formed from five people, and the game lasts three times for 12 minutes. The interval between the periods is 3 minutes. Beach football has a lot in common with the futsal, which, after the formation of the corresponding sports infrastructure for the games "Ashgabat 2017", gained popularity among many Turkmen citizens.
With the advent of beach soccer, the country will be able to hold regular tournaments between regions, both among children and adults. It is possible that in the future the national team of Turkmenistan will be able to take part in competitions held under the auspices of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), in particular - the Asian Beach Football Championship, which is qualifying for the world championship.
Having appeared in Brazil, beach soccer began to rapidly gain popularity due to participation in the matches of big football stars (Eric Cantona, Julio Salinas and others). Games began to be covered in more than 150 countries of the world, which resulted in a huge amount of advertising and sponsors. To date, the top three beach soccer in the world - teams of Brazil, Portugal and Iran.
The resort zone "Avaza", located on the shores of the Caspian Sea, can become one of the main sites for international beach soccer tournaments. The golden sand and comfortable hotels of the tourist town will attract thousands of football fans, as well as experts who will come to Turkmenistan again and again. Beach football pitches will also arouse interest among ordinary tourists who love outdoor activities.
Another challenge is to increase the number of judges and further enhance their qualifications. For this, it is possible to organize training seminars where they can get a deeper insight into the intricacies of this game. Subsequently, the referees will be able to serve not only domestic competitions, but also foreign tournaments.
