Pacific / Solomon Islands

Sport: Construction of futsal court stalled in Solomons

12:13 pm on 19 April 2017

Construction of a long-awaited futsal complex in Solomon Islands has yet to begin, six months after the proposed start date.

The Kurukuru national team are the reigning Oceania champions despite the country not having a proper futsal court.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare pledged to build a proper facility for futsal development last year, with the country preparing to host the Pacific Games in 2023.

The Solomon Islands Football Federation signed a contract in October with the government and FIFA to build the stadium in Honiara.

The Solomon Islands are crowned 2016 OFC Futsal champions. Photo: OFC

But the former national coach, Juliano Schmeling, said nothing had yet got off the ground.

"There's a lot of things that happened after the World Cup (last year)," he said.

"There was a lot of talking about that because Solomon Islands went to three World Cups already and [there was] not any futsal court there.

"So a lot of talking around [the issue] but concrete [progress], nothing has happened. We don't know when it's going to happen, these facilities - everyone hopes it will be soon."

Former Solomon Islands futsal coach Juliano Schmeling. Photo: OFC Media

Juliano Schmeling was no longer under contract with the Kurukuru team.

He said futsal competitions in Solomon Islands were still growing up.

The last domestic competition ran at the end of 2015 for a few weeks but none was held last year.