Current champions of Lithuania, Futsal Club Vytis officially became a part of the famous Žalgiris sports society, out of which the basketball team is the most known. The team's Facebook page is already up and running.
Could this move open some space for further investment in the development of Lithuanian futsal? After all, the Futsal World Cup is coming to Lithuania later this year...
Vytis played its last matches in UEFA Futsal Champions League under this name this season. They have won against Swedish champions Hammarby in the first round, winning away against German champions Hohenstein Ernstthal in the second round, only to be knocked out by a strong Yugra team from Russia in the Round of 16.
They are currently at the top of the Lithuanian league table and are hoping to repeat their success of winning the league.
We share their official statement in regard to the name change in the continuation of this article:
"The champions of Lithuanian futsal, Vytis Kaunas have officially changed their name and will now be known as Zalgiris Kaunas. The team will start off their season with a new name and new uniforms this Saturday, as they take on the Siauliai Football Academy.
Zalgiris and Vytis began working side by side back in October last year, when the clubs’ representatives signed an agreement and the club born in 2013 officially became part of the green-and-white family.
Nevertheless, the club couldn’t go through a name change back then, as due to the UEFA reglamentation, the team had to compete in the Futsal Champions League in the same name in which they won their country’s championship. This year, the team made it through amongst the best 16 teams in Europe.
After exiting the competition, team manager Darius Gurskis applied for the name to be changed from Vytis to Zalgiris, and the request was granted on Thursday.
The team led by Ukrainian coach Kiril Krasii has gone undefeated in the Lithuanian championship, winning 14 of their 15 games, while taking one draw. At this point in time, they share the 1-2 positions with Vikingai Jonava, but hold a 2-game reserve. There is only 3 games left until the end of the regular season.
“Having combined the strength of the Zalgiris organization and the achievements of Vytis in futsal, we’re ready to aim for even larger goals. The entire club has a great pyramid and we’re taking on this new stage with a goal to turn on an even higher gear. Lithuania will host the world futsal championship, and in the midst of all this, we want our name to be known even more in the entire Europe,” – noted the manager of the 13th ranked club in Europe."