Teams need specialist Futsal players at the national level, Win In Oceania Futsal project manager Scott Gilligan says.

After checking out the Futsal set-up in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, Gilligan said Fiji lacked proper development of the code.

He said the absence of a healthy domestic competition was a major reason for the national team’s continued struggle in the code.

While the Fiji team for the 2009 OFC Futsal Championship is dominated by seasoned football players, Gilligan warned the practice was obsolete and must stop.

“Football and futsal – the way you control the ball is different. With football players use the side of the foot and with futsal, it’s the sole of the foot because of the surface and space.”

He said the code’s pace and players’ agility requirement were different as well.

“By age 16, players need to decide if they want to play futsal or football. We need to separate the codes,” Gilligan said.

“Futsal is complimentary to football.

“The focus should be on getting futsal into schools as it’s the best development tool for football.

“It should start in primary schools with those in the 6-12 year-old category.

“By 12 they need to be introduced to football and at high school there should be a link between the two,” he said.

Despite futsal being over a decade old in Fiji, the code remains largely concentrated in Suva, with just two or three competitions played annually.

“New Caledonia has a good strong national league of 36 teams playing in respective divisions with top eight teams coming together for a play-off.

“They used to start their season in February and finish in November.

“Next year it will run from August to May,” Gilligan said.

“Tahiti has a super league and 27 leagues played all over the country including nearby islands.

“Their season runs from July to December.

“Solomon Islands have a nine-month long season. They have 13 leagues played all over the country. “The problem is they only have one court there and all sports use it as well,” he said.

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