Director of Marketing and Cmmunications of QFA Khalid al-Kuwari with Coca-Cola Bottling Company Mohamed Akeel.

By Sports Reporter/Doha


The Copa Coca-Cola, a grassroots football initiative for teens, returns to Qatar for the second straight year, Coca-Cola Middle East and the Qatar Football Association announced yesterday.
The tournament will be played at the North Madinat Khalifa ground on May 10 with teams comprising players in the 13-15 age group competing for the right to be called Copa Coca-Cola champions of Qatar.
The tournament was first held in Mexico in 1998 in an attempt to help promote healthy living and an active lifestyle. Since then, the tournament has gone from strength to strength and is now played across five continents. In 2009, Nigerian teenager Mikel Agu was a participant in Copa Coca-Cola, and has gone on to represent FC Porto in the Portuguese league.
Coca-Cola Middle East introduced the Copa Coca-Cola programme to the region for the first time in 2012, with tournaments taking place in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman. The winners of last year’s competitions were taken on an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.
Commenting on the official launch of the 2013 tournament, Mohamed Akeel – Managing Director (Bahrain & Qatar) of Coca-Cola Bottling Company said: “Through football, the world’s most popular sport, Coca-Cola identified a need to connect with the youth who aspire to be professional soccer players. Thus, we brought about this new grassroots initiative to the Middle East that reiterates the pillars that the Coca-Cola Company believes in.
“Encouraging young Arab football players to participate in Copa Coca-Cola is important to Coca-Cola, because it acts as a stepping stone for the professional leagues. By 2022, we hope to see our Arab Copa players representing their countries at the World Cup in Qatar.”
Khalid al-Kuwari, Director of Marketing and Communications, Qatar Football Association, added: “We are delighted to be partnering with Coca-Cola Middle East for the 2013 Copa Coca-Cola tournament in Doha given that this tournament is in line with this year’s HH the Emir Cup 2013 vision to encourage the public to participate in the different local football tournaments that are organised by QFA and its partners.
“This initiative represents a good opportunity for young Qatari players to showcase their talents, and it represents a continuation to our vision and strong will to support and harness young Qatari talents.”