MINSK, 31 July (BelTA) – The national beach soccer stadium was opened at the Olympiysky sports center in Minsk on 31 July. Attending the opening ceremony were representatives of the Sports and Tourism Ministry, the Directorate of the 2nd European Games MINSK 2019, the Belarusian Football Federation and the Belarusian Beach Soccer Federation, BelTA has learned.
Requirements for the stadium were coordinated with the International Beach Soccer Federation. All comments were taken into account, said head of the Belarusian Beach Soccer Federation Aleksei Sychev. The horseshoe-shaped arena will allow sports fans enjoy the game in comfortable conditions. The construction project was launched in June. On 3-5 August 2018 the stadium with 1,500 seats will host its first beach soccer fans for the Euro Beach Soccer League Minsk 2018.
Belarus will face Turkey (3 August), Poland (4 August), and Italy (5 August). At the Euro Beach Soccer League first stage in Baku, Azerbaijan the Belarusian team trained by well-known Spanish specialist Nicolas Alvarado beat Azerbaijan 4-1 and France 3-2, but lost to Portugal 2-3. Belarus is currently ranked 6th in the Euro Beach Soccer League standings with six points. Italy and Poland have three points each. Turkey has no points at present. The standings are topped by Ukraine and Portugal, with 12 points each.
The forthcoming Euro League competitions will be a test event ahead of the beach soccer tournament at the 2nd European Games in Minsk. Apart from the hosts, the tournament will feature seven more teams that will be named after the ongoing Euro Beach Soccer League season.
