UAE and Russia to test new beach soccer stadium

posted on 22/10/2012: 485 views

The final touches are being put to a world-class beach soccer facility at Dubai Festival City (DFC) in time to host the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup.

The Dubai Sports Council (DSC), organisers of the five-day tournament, have tied up with DFC to have a brand-new stadium with a main sand pitch and a seating capacity of 2,500 and also a side pitch for pre-match practice and training.

The facility is located close to the Toys R Us store, and the best way to get there is via the Silk Parking area of the DFC.

"Everything is way ahead of schedule and we should be in a position to even run a test event before the tournament kicks off,” said Rashid Al Awadhi, chairman of the Local Organising Committee and director, Marketing and Communications at DSC.

The first action on the new pitch will be an exhibition match between world champions Russia, who have already landed in Dubai, with hosts UAE on October 26.

"We want to use this friendly match as a test event for the main competition,” Al Awadhi said.

The Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup will have eight of the best teams including traditional powerhouses Brazil, Russia and Switzerland contesting for the title from October 30 to November 3. The eight teams have been divided into two groups with hosts UAE joining Russia, Tahiti and the USA.

The official also said plans are afoot to make this a permanent venue, pending DFC's approval.

"The Al Futtaim Group has been a fantastic partner to us and if this does become a more permanent venue then we can stage many more such events here in the future,” Al Awadhi added.

Meanwhile, all other allied aspects of the competition have also been put in place.

"We have been meeting over the past four months to fine-tune our plans and activities for such an important competition,” Al Awadhi said.

"We are also grateful to our partners including the Dubai Festival City, Power Horse, Roads and Transport Authority, Emirates NBD, Aquafina and Capital Marketing.

"And Dubai Sports channel will ensure that there will be live coverage of the tournament on all five days,” he added. Sport 360°

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