We will see the best European Minifootball players descend on Košice in October, as the superstars of the small sided game fight for the title in Slovakia
After an eleven year absence, the European Football Championship will return to Slovakia once again. In 2010 they hosted the historical first ever continental championship in this format. EMF EURO 2021 will take place in Košice from 30th October to 6th November. The strongest national teams from all parts of Europe will come to Košice for the tournament.
The entire championship will take place in the modern Steel Arena in Košice. 24 national teams will battle it out for the European Championship title, which will see teams drawn into six groups. Each team will play three matches in the first phase of the championship and the top 16 teams will advance to the playoffs.
The EURO should have taken place last year, but were rescheduled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and this is something that EMF President, Borislav Aleksandrov is keen to point out. Speaking after the announcement of the tournament, he said “Primarily, I would like to signify my sincere gratefulness to the LOC and the President of the Slovak Minifootball Association, Peter Kralik, for their courage and flexibility. Thanks to that we have been able to adapt and we will try to give you as ‘normal’ a EURO as possible in the terms of the current situation. It will be the first event of a global dimension to be held since the pandemic struck, and it will be the perfect opportunity to show the world that Europe is adapting. Europe is alive and celebrating life. Europe is back!”
He continued “I am quite confident that the upcoming EMF EURO 2021 in Kosice will be a notable milestone in the future Minifootball development and a benchmark of a well-organized event.”
Mayor of Košice, Jaroslav Polacek, also have us his views, “I am very happy that Košice will host such an important sporting event. I remember when the organizers approached us with an offer to organize a championship with us. We found common ground very quickly. The city management has sport among its priorities. I’d like to thank the deputies of the city, who immediately supported this activity. Big events like this inspire and motivate children to play sports, which is our goal. I’m also looking forward to the atmosphere, I’m sure the fans will find their way to the matches in the Steel Arena. They will definitely want to see for themselves the best Minifootball players in Europe. I will definitely not miss any matches, especially from our national team.”
Despite it being 11 years since the first ever EMF EUROS, this will actually be the 10th anniversary of the event due to it being postponed last year, and we’re hoping for a spectacular tournament to celebrate this milestone.
Peter Kralik, who as well as being the President of his own countries federation, is the WMF Vice President also, and he told us “The pandemic thwarted our plans in 2020, but we are happy that the European Championships in Košice will still take place. The players and fans deserve it and we believe that after such an unfortunate year we will bring a little coveted joy to Slovakia. Organization with covid is incomparable to organizing under standard conditions. However, it is an even bigger challenge and I am convinced that we will be able to do it together with the organizational team. We would also like to thank the city of Košice for their strong support once again, which is even rarer in these times and thanks to it, the European Championships in Košice will take place.”
Stay tuned to EMF official channels for coming updates!
