12 teams in Division A, 12 more in Division B, 5 regular phase stages plus the Superfinal? Beginning in May!
The XVIth edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League has already been penciled, boasting significant changes that confirm the sport is getting bigger day after day.
First big change in this 2013 season in the core of the Old Continent Beach Soccer season is the increase in the number of events. This summer, five regular phase stages will precede the Euro Beach Soccer League Superfinal, where the new king of Europe will be crowned.
Beginning on the 24th of May in Kiev (Ukraine), five regular phase stages will keep the top-flight Beach Soccer action travelling across the Old Continent, jumping from Ukrainian soil to the Italian seaside resort of Terracina (June 14th to 16th), in an event featuring 12 teams. After that, the EBSL will fly to Valence, in France, re-conquering such a beach soccer-loving land as the French, before cruising to one of the beaches becoming a regular worldwide stage: Scheveningen Beach in The Hague, the Netherlands (July 19th-21st).
One of the venues which have agglutinated some of the most important beach soccer events in the last years, Moscow, will host the last of the regular phase stages (August 2nd-4th). The home to the defending FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup champions will mean the last chance to access the season decider one week afterwards.
After the excellent experience last year, Torredembarra, in Spain, will be graced this 2013 with the organization of the Euro Beach Soccer League Superfinal (August 8th-11th). Eight teams from Division A will be fighting on the sand of the Costa Daurada to snatch the crown that remains under Swiss control since last summer.
Twelve teams in Division A
The second big change of this season is the number of teams taking part in the top division of the EBSL. The best four teams of last year in Division B (France, Netherlands, Germany, and Belarus) make a definite leap to the continental elite, together with Switzerland, Russia, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Poland, Italy and Ukraine, winners of 2012 Promotion Final.
In Division B, twelve more teams will seek this same top-flight license in an terribly fought season: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Azerbaijan, England, Greece, Hungary, Turkey, Norway, Andorra, Israel, Bulgaria and Moldova.
The full calendar of the Euro Beach Soccer League 2013 goes as follows:
May 24th ? 26th: EBSL Kiev (Ukraine)
Division A: Switzerland, Poland, Ukraine and France
June 14th ? 16th: EBSL Terracina (Italy)
Division A ? Group 1: Italy, Romania, Ukraine, Netherlands
Division A ? Group 2: Russia, Portugal, Belarus, Germany
Division B: Azerbaijan, Hungary, Turkey and Israel
June 21st ? 23rd: EBSL Valence (France)
Division A: Switzerland, Portugal, Spain and France
Division B: Czech Republic, England, Andorra, Moldova
July 19th ? 21st: EBSL The Hague (The Netherlands)
Division A: Italy, Poland, Belarus and Netherlands
Division B: Estonia, Greece, Norway, Bulgaria
August 2nd ? 4th: EBSL Moscow (Russia)
Division A: Russia, Romania, Spain and Germany
August 8th ? 11th: EBSL Superfinal Torredembarra
Superfinal: Eight best ranked teams in Division A
Promotion Final: Worst ranked team in Division A + 7 best ranked teams
