Some of the world’s best football teams will be among more than 300 clubs who will converge in Johannesburg in December for the Iber Cup, a youth football tournament, organisers said yesterday.
These will include France’s Paris St Germain, Juventus of Italy and Benfica of Portugal, where the tournament originated 15 years ago.
“Our goal is to bring the world to SA and the level of competition will be high,” said Philippe Rodrigues, the CEO of the Iber Cup. “It will be an unforgettable experience for SA players because they will get to play against their peers from all over the world, something that doesn’t happen often.”
Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport United are two SA teams already confirmed to partake in the December 12-16 event, which will be staged in Johannesburg. The Gauteng provincial sports department is the host of the tournament which has age categories ranging from eight years to 18.
“Without the help of the [Gauteng] government it would be impossible to host the tournament because we have more than 300 players flying in, and we have to accommodate them,” said Rodrigues.
Selected Gauteng schools and clubs will be given the chance to participate under a bursary programme, and one lucky team will earn an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in the Iber Cup Cascais in Portugal in 2025.
“The Iber Cup is an important tournament which the Gauteng government believes has a lot to offer in inspiring our young talent to greater levels. It has the capacity to instil confidence in the minds of the players to realise that they too have enough talent to play and succeed in the big leagues and clubs anywhere else in the world,” said Gauteng MEC for sport, arts, culture and recreation Matome Chiloane. – Sowetan Reporter
