Mouth-watering Clashes In Prospect For Crete Football Feast

The draw for miniEURO 2013 took place in the beautiful Crete city of Rethymno and some fantastic matches are in prospect.

In front of an enthusiastic audience packed with journalists and local dignitaries alike, the 24 teams who will compete for the title of minifootball champions of Europe were drawn.

The matches will take place between 10^th-14^th October and the groups – with host nation Greece the top seeds – are as follows.

The gathering of footballers will be the largest pan-European gathering Greece this year and represents a major coup for the Island of Crete and also Rethymno. More than 500 athletes will be present at the matches together with as many fans, coaches and officials, and it’s hoped the legendary hospitality of the Rethymno natives will help foster close relationships with the participant countries.

The event is the flagship event of the European Minifootball Federation (EMF) and its President Razvan Burleanu stressed the importance of selecting Rethymno as host city. The European Union has recognised minifootball and the event needs, he said, to take place in a location of both natural beauty and practicality. Mr Burleanu added: “I thank the Region and the Municipality of Rethymno actively support this ambitious organization and in turn the amount of visitors to the city increased dramatically and so has multiple benefits for the city’s business.”

Elsewhere the governor of Rethymno Mary Lioni spoke passionately of the importance of Rethymno and the entire island across the continent, and conveyed the congratulations of the Regional Governor of Crete, Stavros Arnaoutaki to organizers. He further noted that the Regional Unit of Rethymno actively supported the miniEuro 2013, and personally thanked the President of EMF, Mr. Burleanu.

The Mayor of Rethymno, Mr. George Marinakis welcomed the potential visitors – particularly in a time when tourist numbers may be lower, and pledged his full support for the event.

The SFA Rethymno (Association Football Clubs Rethymno) is twinning its 23 member clubs with the event and the chairman, John Koundourakis said he was overwhelmed by the great honour for the city of Rethymno and the strengthening of relations between peoples, through sports and “fair play “, adding that the Union will be helpful during every moment of the event. That is a powerful message against discrimination and racism, which the Greek Organizing Committee has as a core belief.

Greetings were sent by local MP John Kefalogiannis, who due to prior commitments, was unable to attend the event: “It is important to help the entrepreneurs of the city,” he said.

The President of the Greek Organizing Committee and Director of Marketing EMF, Thanos Papadopoulos stressed the need to support the businesses of the city for the best of the event, claiming it does not matter so much the level of support, but to provide the necessary resources so that the organization be conducted with top quality at its heart, leaving the best impression to visitors, who will want to return to again and again Rethymno in the near future. At the same time, among others thanked the Ministry of Tourism the vice-Governor Crete, Rethymno Municipality, the PUMA, ANEK LINES, the SIT-IN and Lighthouse Web design for their valuable sponsorship help.

Greetings and thanks to the city authorities were also sent by EMF Vice Chairman, Filip Juda, the Secretary General of the EMF, Bruno Alpeza, the Head of the Marketing Department Christophe Koechy, the General Coordinator Greek Organizing Committee Efstratios Sipetzis and honorary member of the EMF, Moran Gera.