Samsung Intercontinental Cup secured until 2017

Beach Soccer Worldwide and Dubai Sports Council presented the 5-year agreement in a Press Conference at Burj Al Arab

Dubai confirmed a yearly top-class event to add to its sports calendar, with the announcement of Dubai hosting the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup for the next 5 years.

The agreement was announced in a press conference held last week at Burj Al Arab (Dubai), attended by H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Deputy Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, Mr. Juan Cusco, vice-president of Beach Soccer Worldwide and member of the Beach Soccer Committee in FIFA, and a group of public sports leaders and media representatives. The Formal Cooperation Agreement was signed between DSC and Beach Soccer Worldwide to continue organizing this Cup on an annual basis until 2017, right after the successful maiden edition organized at the UAE resort last 2011, in which Russians clinched the Cup by beating Brazil 5-4 in the last match.

The new agreement reinforces once again the distinguished position of the United Arab Emirates on the major international championships and events map, and confirms Dubai as one of the most important venues of Beach Soccer across the globe. The amusing FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009, climaxing a road with three Continental Qualifiers for the global showcase in 2006, 2007 and 2008 built a true success story, continued last year and with its future absolutely secured for the next

H. E. Mattar Al Tayer congratulated everyone after such a profitable agreement: “We are really glad to have signed this long partnership deal with BSWW to host and organize this top-class tournament for 5 years. This agreement is the result of a continuous and beneficial relationship with Beach Soccer, with so many tournaments involved, including the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2009 and ending with the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup in 2011, a championship that UAE is proud of leading. We also take pride in the fact that Dubai’s name will be linked for the following 5 years with this important tournament and that our audience will get the chance of seeing the international elite competing for the cup“.

At the same time, Al Tayer explained how this agreement is highly significant regarding “the Dubai Sports Council’s plans to develop the sports sector in the Emirate of Dubai,  as well as reinforcing the position of the country on the international sports map, and how the work is being done alongside UAE Football Union in order to build the second season of Beach Soccer League, Cup and Super Cup after the great success of the first season.”