Superbet supports the Romanian national minifootball team at the start of preparations for the Minifootball World Cup in the United Arab Emirates
Superbet, the tech & entertainment company that stands among the most significant supporters of Romanian sports, has become the strategic partner of the Romanian Minifootball Federation. Following this agreement, Superbet becomes the main sponsor of the national minifootball team and a strategic partner for projects organized by the federation.
The signing event of this partnership was attended by Vlastimir Vukadinović, Director of Marketing at Superbet, Ioan Onicaș, President of the Romanian Minifootball Federation (FRM), Cristian Lupu, Vice President of FRM, and Raoul Borșoș, member of the FRM Executive Committee.
Vlastimir Vukadinović, Director of Marketing at Superbet, talks about the strong link between minifootball and the sports content of the future:
"The signing of the partnership with the Romanian Mini Football Federation reaffirms our mission to support Romanian sports at the community level. Mini football is played in all corners of the country, and the national team can boast some extraordinary results. Just as 3x3 basketball has become an Olympic sport, the expressions of football, in its various forms, will undoubtedly grow, considering the future audience's appetite for compressed, faster, and more creative sports content.
We believe in the ability of mini football competitions to bring the king of sports closer to any social environment, in any region of Romania, and we are pleased that we are raising awareness regarding the achievements of these passionate individuals."
Grassroots phenomenon
During the event, the official jersey that the Romanian team will wear at the Minifootball World Cup, hosted by the United Arab Emirates from October 26 to November 4, 2023, was also presented.
Romania is a top-seeded team in Group D at the World Cup, alongside strong representatives from Spain, the United States of America, and Lebanon.
Ioan Onicaș, President of the Romanian Minifootball Federation, underpins the impressive growth of this grassroots football phenomenon:
"We are thrilled to have signed this partnership with Superbet, a name that has become significant in supporting Romanian sports in recent years. Additionally, we are pleased to follow the model of clubs from the Romanian Superliga and associate our name and brand with Superbet.
Minifootball has become a phenomenon in our country for many years, practiced by a large number of people, and now, with the establishment of the National Federation, the image and brand of this sport can only grow. These will grow through partnerships that add value, not only to the Federation or the national minifootball team but also to the entire Romanian minifootball phenomenon. We are confident that, alongside Superbet, we will bring many benefits to both the participants of this grassroots sport and our partners in this project."
Impressive achievements for Romanian minifootball
Romania is one of the forces in international minifootball, being the only country that, alongside Brazil, the USA, Mexico, Czech Republic, and India, has participated in all editions of the World Cup since 2015. Moreover, in two of the previous editions, in the USA in 2015 and the most recent one in Australia in 2019, our team won the bronze medal.
In addition to the achievements at the World Cup, our minifootball team is considered the most decorated among the participants in the European Championship, with 6 continental titles (won between 2010 and 2015), 2 appearances in the competition's final at the recent tournaments, in Ukraine in 2018 and in Slovakia last year. Romania has qualified and participated in all editions of the European Championship, reaching the semifinals 9 times out of the 10 editions held so far.
At the club level, Romania also excels in terms of sports performance, with Romanian teams winning the EMF Champions League twice, through MAV Sports Timișoara in 2018 and AEK Oradea last year, as well as the EMF Eurocup (equivalent to the Europa League) twice in two editions, through Danco Pro Bucharest in 2019 and Nova Vita Tg-Mureș last year. They have also won all the other trophies offered by the European Federation, such as the Masters, a competition reserved for players over 40 years old, and the Business Cup, a competition for teams from companies and institutions.
It's worth mentioning the excellent performances from last year when Romanian teams managed to win all European trophies at stake.
Domestic competition profile
At the domestic level, this year, the National Minifootball Championship was won by Ajax Dulcisimo Galați, featuring former football player Alexandru Bourceanu, who played for FCSB and the Romanian national football team. Other notable former football players who switched to minifootball, present at the final tournament in Bistrița, included Sergiu Costin, Stelian Stancu, Marius Mitu, and Sorin Frunză.
At the tournament final, in which Superbet was a partner of FRM, the match between the host team, Extratereștrii Bistrița, and Ajax Dulcisimo was watched by over 1000 spectators, setting a record for a national minifootball tournament.
