Saturday 27 / April / 2024
Muscat: Football clubs Arsenal, Manchester City and Inter Milan are among world-famous teams that will be coming to Oman to take part in a youth football tournament this November.
The Oman International Youth Cup is expected to take place from November 22 to 24, and will draw more than 40 youth teams across various age categories from outfits in Europe, as well as the Sultanate.
Held in collaboration with the nation's Tanfeedh programme for economic growth, with tourism earmarked as one of the areas of expansion, the event will also see the active participation of the Oman Football Association, the Ministry of Sports, Mwasalat, and the Muscat Football Academy.
The event will also feature Italian clubs Hellas Verona, Genoa, and Torino among others.
"As coaches, all of us dream of going to participate in tournaments like this but this is the first time something like this is being held in Oman," said Chuck Martini, head coach of the Muscat Football Academy. "This interest is not just based around Omani clubs but we are seeing interest from the GCC as well. We have interest from Al Jazira and Al Wahda for example.
"We will have a qualification round and on the basis of how teams perform, they will be slotted into gold, silver and bronze categories so there will be football for all," he added. "This is great for grassroots football in the country because something like this is not often experienced by many youths in the nation."
