The RFU General Secretary of the makes final wrap-up of the historic success of the team, the nation and the event
It was a fantastic victory! I want to thank you again our players, coach and the whole technical staff for having provided us and the fans with this amazing experience. Without their support, it would have not been possible.
Likhachev is the top specialist in beach soccer. It can be said that this was a coach victory. Our team is shaped by top-class players, but some national teams are, individually, even stronger. But our guys and our coach always find something to successfully counteract that.
I have to say that I do not agree with FIFA’s adidas Golden Ball award. For me, it had to go to Anton Shkarin without any doubt, and that is what I have told to his teammates and to everybody.
Our will was to make an event with as much crowd as possible, to help more and more people get to know and get to experience beach soccer and everything it is about.
We want to thank the Moscow authorities and Rospotrebnazor (Russian Epidemiology Service) for trusting us and letting us bring this event forward, and we are proud to have followed and successfully implemented all the directives that have been passed onto to us to make sure the event was held in a safe environment, to minimise any potential risk to the teams, the staff and the fans.
The final outcome of the event, the result achieved by the national team, and the level of the organisation represent proof of the high level of development of beach soccer in Russia, and we are already looking forward to a whole new set of international events involving the best teams in the world, similar to a Champions League.
Many people have already understood that this modality can be one of the most spectacular elements in the Olympics programme. Indeed, the Olympic Movement is going towards young sports, and I really dream of beach soccer becoming a member of the Olympic family.
It is still too soon to evaluate, and it is not our duty to do that. On one side, FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s words, defining the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021 as the best World Cup in history, are truly valuable.
Just as reading the feedback and comments from our fans is. It is something really satisfying for us.
