More than 4 thousand children will participate in the 22nd McDonald's Ayia Napa Youth Soccer Festival, which this year will take place in two phases, from April 27 to May 1 and from May 10 to 12.
An announcement by the Municipality of Ayia Napa states that the festival will take place at the sports facilities of the Municipality of Ayia Napa in two different phases.
The first phase, it added, "will run from Saturday 27 April to Wednesday 1 May for the Grassroots boys and girls age groups, while the second phase will take place from 10 to 12 May for the youth age groups, 13 to 17 years old".
According to the announcement of the Municipality, in total "470 different age groups and more than 4 thousand children have registered and will take part, surpassing any previous record".
Specifically, as reported, the participation of academies from abroad has increased by 80% compared to last year, having reached 19, while the total number of different age groups that will travel to Cyprus reached 68.
The number of children from abroad is expected to exceed 750.
It is added that in addition to the traditional countries of the Middle East such as Lebanon and Jordan, this year there are participations from Finland, Malta, the Czech Republic, Poland and England, while for the first time there is participation from an African country, specifically from the Jungle Kings academy from Botswana.
According to the announcement "the teams will arrive from abroad accompanied by many chaperones and parents, whose number is expected to exceed two thousand people, which fully satisfies the organizers since, with the full support of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, the institution is being established and is now establishing itself as international".
In this year's event "children will have the opportunity to compete in 21 different age categories starting from the date of birth in 2007 until 2018. Moreover, the innovation of recent years continues this year, with the addition of additional age categories in separate lower football leagues level, which provide for the participation of children born from 2011 to 2018".
Particularly important is "the innovation that has been established and is perhaps a world first for the organization, i.e. the creation where and where possible, of three separate level categories in the knock out phase, qualifying according to their position, all without exception the teams in this next phase of the organization".
This year there will be a "separate tournament for girls aged under 15 and K13, with the participation of 16 girls' teams, thus achieving the joint goals of the organization with the Federation, for the development of women's football in Cyprus while giving equal opportunities to participate and play sports female population".
In a statement, Christos Constantinou, the representative of the organization, mentions among other things that "the increased participation and the love of the people and the children towards the tournament, makes us very happy, but at the same time it raises the bar in terms of the effort that will be needed for a successful organization. Football is, among other things, a way of expression, effort and demonstration of potential and abilities by playing with passion and zeal and will for the result".
McDonald's Cyprus is a renaming sponsor of the festival, LIDL CYPRUS a major sponsor and supporter while the festival is also supported by the Municipality of Agia Napa, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, the Cyprus Football Federation, Agia Napa Marina and other companies.
The European University of Cyprus will play an important role this year in the field of organization, since through the cooperation of the organizers with it, the participation of several student volunteers in the organizational structure of the tournament was achieved.
It is added that "the cooperation of the organizers with the company GREEN DOT will help in the effort to maintain cleanliness in the venue, but also in raising awareness among the world and children in particular, about the importance of cleanliness and recycling".
It is also reported that the organizers, in collaboration with the Karaiskaki Foundation, "will operate at the tournament site a sample collection center for the needs of the bone marrow donor file which can be a source of life for some of our suffering fellow human beings".
Source: KYPE