Baltic Futsal League

The Baltic Futsal League is a new futsal club commercial competition involving 8 teams from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, and Belarus.

Baltic Futsal League
Organising bodyMTÜ Baltic Futsal League
Founded2019
RegionBaltic
Number of teams8
WebsiteWebsite
2019-2020 Baltic Futsal League

The debut season was scheduled to take place between October 2019 and April 2020, but was interrupted by COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and postponed until further notice. The competition format is one round among 8 teams, adding up to 28 matches in total.

A big challenge for the organizers was the match calendar that suits participants from all countries, as the national championships in each country take place at very different times throughout the year.[1]

The matches were covered by media, social media and online streaming services, including in-depth live statistics.[2] The tournament was prepared as a media product, hoping to attract sponsors, advertisers, and potentially reach TV audiences. The participating clubs are incentivized by free travel and accommodation.[1] In the first ever Baltic Futsal League press-conference in Saint Petersburg on 14 May 2019, the league organizers paid particular attention at commercial, PR and marketing aspects of the competition, providing free training and consultations to each of the participating clubs.[3] The league will promote growth and experience of the clubs, planning to expand the league in the future, attracting participants from more countries.[4][5][6]

Participants

A total of eight teams competed in the 2019–2020 season:[7][8][9]

  • FC Cosmos (Estonia)
  • FC Narva United (Estonia)
  • FK Vytis Futsal (Lithuania)
  • FC Gargzdu Pramogos (Lithuania)
  • TFK Rezekne (Latvia)
  • FC Petrow (Latvia)
  • MFK AGIO-FM (МФК «АЖИО-ФМ») (Russia)
  • MFK Stolitsa (МФК «Столица») (Belarus)

Note: Two Saint Petersburg teams «АЖИО» and «Фруктовый мир» have joined together to compete as «АЖИО-ФМ».[7]

Current Season

The first match took place on 2019 October 18 in Riga.[10][11] The last round of the season was planned to take place 11 April 2020 in Tallinn, with award ceremony to follow. However, in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, on 12 March it was announced that the championship is being suspended until further notice.[12] As the pandemic was easing, the organizers held an online conference with the participating clubs on 23 July 2020. Discussion about completing 2019–2020 season as well as 2020–2021 season schedule were questions on the agenda.[13]

Matchday 1

FC Petrow 4:7 FK Vytis
Rīga
FC Cosmos 1:3 Agio FM
Kehra
TFK Rēzekne 2:4 Narva United FC
Ludza
FC Stalitsa 7:1 Gargždų Pramogos
Minsk

Matchday 2

FK Vytis 5:1 TFK Rēzekne
Jonava
Agio FM 10:3 Narva United FC
Saint Petersburg
Gargždų Pramogos 3:4 FC Petrow
Gargždai
FC Cosmos 2:10 FC Stalitsa
Tallinn

Matchday 3

FC Stalitsa 4:4 Agio FM
Penalties
4:5
Minsk
Narva United FC 2:4 FC Cosmos
Narva
FK Vytis 6:3 Gargždų Pramogos
Kaunas
FC Petrow 7:3 TFK Rēzekne
Rīga

Matchday 4

FC Stalitsa 4:0 TFK Rēzekne
Minsk
Gargždų Pramogos 5:11 Agio FM
Gargždai
FC Cosmos 1:9 FC Petrow
Kehra
Narva United FC v FK Vytis
Narva

Matchday 5

FC Petrow 3:7 FC Stalitsa
Jelgava
Gargždų Pramogos 3:5 Narva United FC
Gargždai
Agio FM v FK Vytis
Saint Petersburg
TFK Rēzekne 5:7 FC Cosmos
Ludza

Matchday 6 will take place 14–18 March

postponed

Final matchday will take place 11 April in Tallinn

postponed

Championship Table
  • as of 29 February
#ClubPlayedWinDrawLoseWin on
Penalties		Lose on
Penalties		Goals +Goals -Goal Diff.Points
1FC Stalitsa5410013210+2213
2AGIO FM4310102813+1511
3FK Vytis330000188+109
4FC Petrow5302002721-69
5Narva UTD4202001419-56
6FC Cosmos5203001528-136
7TFK Rezekne5005001027-170
8Gargždų Pramogos5005001533-180

Top Scorers
#PlayerMinutes PlayedGoals
1Mykhailo Grytsyna /FC Stalitsa/41'9
2Maksim Sens /FC Petrow796
3Kirill Osinovskiy /AGIO FM/53'5
4Roman Ananev /AGIO FM/53'4
5Ruslan Lazyuk /FC Stalitsa/59'4
6Beto /FC Stalitsa/61'4

2020-2021 season

The first meeting of the League Board took place in the Tallinn on 1 of March. The league calendar was discussed, as well as the league promotion. It was announced that currently there are 12 clubs from 9 countries interested in the 2020–2021 season. There would be 22 league rounds, totaling to 132 games. The matches would take place between October and April.[14]

The competition was affected by COVID-19 pandemic, the completion of 2019–2020 season was postponed, which is likely to affect the start of the next season. The clubs and the organizers met on an online conference on 23 July 2020 to discuss the next season's calendar, yet no details were made public.[13]

There were talks that the nmber an d the geography of the participants will expand, however the list of participants was announced on 28 November, which included 8 teams — two from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and one from Belarus and Ukraine.[15] Seven of the clubs remained the same, the Ukrainian team replaced the Russian team.

At the beginning of December the numbers of COVID-19 cases increased rapidly, and on 8 December 2020 the organizers announced that the season start is postponed to April 2021.[16]

1„FK Vytis Kaunas“ (Lithuania)
2„Gargždų Pramogos–SC“ (Lithuania)
3„FC Petrow“ (Latvia)
4TFK Rezekne (Latvia)
5„MFK Stolitsa“ (МФК «Столица») (Belarus)
6„SK Sokil“ (СК «Сокіл») (Ukraine)
7„FC Narva United“ (Estonia)
8„FC Cosmos“ (Estonia)

References
  1. https://balticfutsal.com/interview/interview-shipunov/
  2. https://balticfutsal.com/announcement/agree-instat/
  3. https://balticfutsal.com/interview/interview-with-mikhail-alexandrov/
  4. https://rogov.ee/m/futsal/
  5. https://www.kurier.lt/baltijskaya-futzalnaya-liga/
  6. https://lff.lt/news/5884/startuoja-baltijos-futsal-lygos-projektas/
  7. https://balticfutsal.com/team/stolica-minsk/
  8. https://www.obzor.lt/news/n51527.html
  9. https://soccernet.ee/artikkel/kaks-eesti-klubi-osalevad-uues-saalijalgpalli-balti-liigas
  10. https://balticfutsal.com/season-19-20/
  11. https://balticfutsal.com/announcement/calendar-of-the-starting-season-of-bfl/
  12. https://balticfutsal.com/official-statement/baltic-futsal-league-official-statement/
  13. https://balticfutsal.com/announcement/we-go-forward-listening-to-each-other/
  14. https://www.facebook.com/balticfutsalleague/posts/510397049903573?__tn__=K-R
  15. https://www.facebook.com/balticfutsalleague/photos/a.308476106762336/705929637016979/
  16. https://balticfutsal.com/announcement/season-2020-21-is-delayed-for-spring-2021/
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