STORE 
MY BEACH SOCCER 
By Joan Cuscó, BSWW Executive Vice-President and FIFA Beach Soccer Committee Member
I just can’t wait to see it happen…. With the sixteenth edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League just concluded, we set our sails to Tahiti, where the next FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is beginning in just some days.
The upcoming showpiece is bringing on some exciting exceptional items, assets that will get the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, and Beach Soccer in general, to a new status, to a new level, to new standards. Just as we have, the host city have been looking forward to this moment for the last years, and this has turned into an spirited and devoted implication in making this seventh edition of the global festival into a lifelong memory, something they will certainly manage thanks to their overwhelming hospitable character and their professionalism.
You enjoy the spectacular Video of the Official Song (which you can see here http://youtu.be/KG5le5nrnS0), you see the tickets close to sell out in just a couple of weeks, you reckon how the Tahitian National team has been getting ready for such a demanding moment and you witness the stunning stadium looking brighter day by day, and the sensations you get cannot be any better. We just hope this FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup can transmit, trustworthily enough, that Polynesian hospitality that make the islands so special, so much part of yourself. I can only sincerely thank the LOC for the huge, awesome job they are doing?
Together with the anticipated success in the French Polynesia, every signal confirms that we are indeed in the doorstep of a new era in Beach Soccer. And we are ready to tackle these new challenges. New frontiers have been broken, new places have been discovered and new atmospheres have been experienced, and now the dream of getting under the Five Rings is closer every day, with the sport firmly knocking the doors of the Olympic Committee.
Significant steps have been made towards this direction and Beach Soccer banks on the support of key personalities in the sports universe to make this happen. Carlos Nuzman, president of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, or the FIFA president himself, Joseph S. Blatter, have reiterated their support and belief that Beach Soccer deserves a place in the Olympic Games.
Besides that, the inclusion of Beach Soccer in the program for the first ever European Olympic Games, to take place in Baku in 2015, stands as an unmistakable turning point in the history of this sport. And that, combined with other potential achievements such as being part of the Mediterranean Games or the University Games, confirm our unstoppable growth.
Make no mistake, though. This road is never a bed of roses and there is always people who want to take advantage of the non-official part of the sport. It is a matter of concern to us the lack of rigour, professionalism and respect some people make flag of when trying to take advantage of the growth our sport is experiencing, showing huge disrespect for the National Football Associations, the regulations established worldwide after common agreement and the world of football itself. For us, there is only one way to cohabitate in the Beach Soccer World, and it is, necessarily, following the regulations by FIFA, the highest body in the structuring and running of football, futsal and beach soccer. It is only through the respect to these rules, supported nationally by the 208 Member Associations, that Beach Soccer can go ahead in a firm, sustainable manner.
Sadly, some examples of this have been happening lately, being one of them the current state of affairs in Brazil. Our position, in line with FIFA, is to fully support the CBF (Confederaçao Brasilera de Futebol), the only organism entitled to run all modalities of football within the Brazilian borders. But it is not only a matter of position, beyond which, there is our full trust, and we feel that no one can lead beach soccer in Brazil with the mastery, strength and thoroughness of the CBF.
The unprofessional way how the CBBS has been leading internal issues in Beach Soccer has flown into a really uncomfortable situation, where the first protagonists of this sport, the players, become the first victims. It is now the moment to take immediate action, as this situation cannot be allowed any further. Brazil is the cradle of this sport, its beaches gave birth to it and raised it to a preeminent place in the sports panorama, and we cannot lose one single minute in protecting the sport from those who only see the opportunity of taking a personal benefit out of it. The future of the sport and its players is the most important here, and whatever actions might be necessary to protect it will be taken without hesitation.
And the same applies for Italy, a country and a football association that have been key in the development of Beach Soccer in Europe, and who see themselves combating some individuals that believe that the crude, irresponsible and disrespectful way of doing things is a shortcut to success.
But let?s not allow these issues cloud the bright moment of the sport? It?s being a wonderful summer, with events confirming here and there that the world loves beach soccer, and this is the best way to get to the seventh edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
And beyond, indeed, as when we are still on the road to Papeete, preparations have already began for the subsequent edition of the World Cup, to take place in Portugal in the summer of 2015. Some days ago we already got the first message from them saying how much they want to host such a major Beach Soccer event. It was a truly clear, stout, and direct message, with an unbelievable XVIIIth edition of the Mundialito, which flew for the first time to Vila Nova de Gaia, in the northern coast of Portugal, to become a very sweet appetizer for what is coming in 2015. The full involvement and expertise of the Portuguese Football Association (Federaçao Portuguesa de Futebol) are the best guarantee.
The future is bright, and it is in our hands, and the hands of beach soccer fans all over the world, to make it even brighter. Can?t wait to see it happening.
