Antoine Tayyar, Public Affairs and Communications Director for Coca-Cola Middle East and Khalid al-Kuwari, Director of Marketing and Communications, at a press conference yesterday.
By Joseph Koraith/Doha
Bigger is definitely better. Especially when it comes to the number of kids participating in a tournament. It augurs well for the sport. And the 2014 Copa Coca-Cola Qatar football tournament which will be held on March 15 promises to be just that. “We have a greedy target. We want 2,000 teams to take part this year,” said Antoine Tayyar, Public Affairs and Communications Director for Coca-Cola Middle East during the launch of the tournament yesterday. The second edition of the tournament had seen 1,000 teams participate and Tayyar is hoping to see double that number this year.
The Copa Coca-Cola is a tournament for the teens (13-15 years) and it started in Mexico in 1998. And now it is played across five continents in 60 countries with over a million teams participating. This is the third time that the tournament is taking place in Qatar and with the 2022 World Cup in sight, it is the perfect time for the kids to showcase their talent and go on to play for the country in football’s biggest spectacle.
“We are looking forward to see local kids who will hopefully play for Qatar in the 2022 World Cup and make the country proud,” said Tayyar.
The tournament will be held under the auspices of the Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Khalid al-Kuwari, Director of Marketing and Communications said his organisation was looking forward to discover some local talent. “The registration has been a tremendous success. We hope to see the stars of the future in this tournament.”
Al-Kuwari added: “The local clubs in Qatar have also shown interest in scouting for talent during this tournament. The event can highlight the local talent who can possibly take part in the 2022 World Cup for Qatar and make not just the country but the entire Middle East proud.”
When asked about how QFA planned to scout for local talent, al-Kuwari said, “We give great importance to grass roots. We have a lot of programmes for kids apart from the official tournaments. Talent scouting is being done jointly at the club level and at the association level.”
The role of the QFA is extremely important in increasing the popularity of the sport, believes Tayyar. “QFA has the most important role to play. They are the engine behind creating a favourable environment to find local talent,” he said yesterday.
As for the kids themselves, while the biggest incentive of being picked up by talent scouts remain the ultimate dream, they also have an immediate gratification in that the winning team will get to compete with other teams in the Arab region and may even get a chance to travel to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup. Game on.
