JEDDAH, 17 October 2003 — The Kingdom’s first beach soccer championship is being staged in Riyadh for three days from Monday (Oct. 20).
The event will be held in the presence of Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Turki ibn Talal, according to Bassem Al-Zein, communications manager Saudi Arabia of Austrian energy drink Red Bull which is organizing it in cooperation with the Saudi Football Union. Eight football teams representing Riyadh’s Badee’ah, Aziziah, Malaz, Shifa, Wazeer, Naseem, Swaidy and Araija areas are participating in this tournament.
“We’re hopeful that the event will encourage the Saudi youths to participate in the non-traditional sports, motivate a new generation of beach soccer players in the Kingdom and subsequently encourage them to develop such sport in a manner that makes them highly qualified to participate in regional and international football contests,” Abdul Rahman Al-Zaid, an international referee and head of the local Referees Committee, said.
The tournament will take place in the Araija area, behind Al-Nasr Sports Club, at the Al-Ta’awon Team Ground. Beach soccer witnessed its first official game in 1993 in Miami, with the participation of football teams from Brazil, Italy, Argentina and the United States. By the beginning of 1994, the game was expanded and subsequently recognized by the Federation International De Football Association (FIFA) in many countries in the American continent, Europe and Asia.
The game is aimed at adding a kind of fun and entertainment to the original game. Each team consists of five players including the goalkeeper. The game is divided into three sessions of 12 minutes each.
