President of the Latvian Football Federation Vadim Lyashenko (in the photo) was recently elected chairman of the Futsal Committee of the International Football Federation (FIFA).
As is known, Vadim Lyashenko became the president of the Latvian Football Federation in the summer of 2020. Before his election, he headed the Latvian Futsal Federation for several years. In 2023, he was elected chairman of the Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee of the European Football Associations Union (UEFA). "Futsal is developing at a very rapid pace, its audience is growing, competition at all levels is increasing, and the number of participants is rising. But we should not stop there; it is necessary to continue the development of this sport," notes Vadim Lyashenko. "An important step would be to include futsal in the Olympic program, which would contribute to its popularization on a global scale."
At the beginning of 2026, Latvia will become one of the organizers of the European Futsal Championship. Matches of one of the preliminary round groups will take place in Riga. In addition to Latvia, Euro 2026 will also be hosted by Lithuania and Slovenia (matches of the group stage and the entire playoff will be held in Ljubljana). By the way, the Latvian national team will play in the final tournament of the European Championship for the first time in its history.
Recently, our team returned victorious from Indonesia, where the team, led by Italian specialist Massimiliano Bellarte, achieved success. During the tournament in Jakarta, the Latvian national team defeated the national teams of the Netherlands, Tanzania, and Indonesia. In the current FIFA world ranking, the Latvian futsal team is in 60th place, Indonesia is in 23rd place, the Netherlands is in 28th place, and Tanzania is in 138th place. Following the Futsal Four Nations Cup 2025, the Latvian national team took first place, and two of its representatives received individual awards. Edgar Tarakanov was recognized as the best player of the tournament, while forward Viktor Kulepov, with five goals, became the top scorer.
For the Latvian futsal team, these were the first test matches since April 2025. The team is preparing for the Euro 2026 Championship, which will take place from January 20 to February 7.
