McDonald's Ayia Napa Youth Soccer Festival

Upgraded and renewed, but also with a record number of participants, the established football tournament of academies will be held in Ayia Napa this year.

The McDonald's Ayia Napa Youth Soccer Festival, which will have the full support of McDonald's Cyprus as the renaming sponsor, as well as LIDL CYPRUS as the major sponsor, will take place as always at the sports facilities of the Municipality of Ayia Napa. The McDonald's Ayia Napa Youth Soccer Festival will take place in two different phases this year, with the first starting from Saturday 27 April to Wednesday 1 May for the Grassroots Boys and Girls age groups, and the second phase starting from 10 until May 12, for the age categories of young people from 13 to 17 years old. In total, 470 different age groups and more than 4000 children have registered and will take part, breaking all previous records and exceeding all expectations.

The participation of academies from abroad has also increased by 80% compared to last year, the number of which has reached 19, with the total number of different age groups that will travel to Cyprus having risen to 68. The number of children from abroad is expected to exceed 750, which is a huge success for the organization. Particularly positive is the fact that in addition to the traditional countries of the Middle East, such as Lebanon and Jordan, this year there are participations from countries such as Finland, Malta, the Czech Republic, Poland and England, while for the first time this year there is participation from an African country and specifically from the Jungle Kings academy from Botswana.

These groups will arrive from abroad accompanied by many chaperones and parents, the number of whom is expected to exceed 2000 people, a fact which satisfies the organizers beyond imagination, since with the full support of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism the institution is being established and consolidated firmly now as an international.

In this year's event, children will have the opportunity to compete in 21 different age categories, starting with the date of birth of 2007 and ending in 2018. The successful innovation of recent years, with the addition of additional age categories in separate leagues of a lower football level, the which provide for the participation of children born from 2011 to 2018, continues this year as well, giving the opportunity to the largest possible number of children to participate in less competitive competitions and with more emphasis on joy and fun.

Particularly important is also the innovation that has been established and is perhaps a world first for the organization, the creation where and where possible, of 3 separate level categories in the knock out phase, qualifying according to their position all without exception the teams in this next phase of the organization.

The participation of girls continues this year with a separate tournament for girls aged under 15 and K13, where the organizers are very pleased to announce the participation of 16 girls' teams, thus achieving the common goals of the organization with the federation, which are none other than the development of of women's football in Cyprus while giving equal opportunities for participation and sports to the female population as well.

Sponsors – Supporters – Partners

In all their efforts for a successful tournament, the organizers, in addition to McDonald's Cyprus and Lidl Cyprus, will, as always, have by their side the Municipality of Ayia Napa, which is feverishly preparing to host more than 20,000 visitors and fans of this football game organization. The contribution and support you provide to the organization from the Deputy Ministry of Tourism in relation to the successful efforts to attract teams from abroad and from the Cyprus Football Federation, through which the refereeing program of the approximately 1200 matches that will take place, is huge . Particularly important is also the cooperation and support provided to the organization by Ayia Napa Marina, which, among other things, welcomes and undertakes every year the organization of the press conference of the tournament, which is also the countdown to the kick-off . The group of sponsors is completed by the company RubikCons, specialized in the construction of prefabricated houses, while the group of supporters is made up of the companies Niu Electric bikes and, as always, Waterworld Waterpark and Parko Paliatso Luna Park in Ayia Napa.

The communication sponsors of the event are the online sports website 24 SPORTS and the sports radio channel SPOR FM 95, which will cover the tournament, culminating in a two-hour live link to the finals and the awards ceremony. This year's television coverage of the event has been completely upgraded, where through the continued cooperation with the sports television channel CYTAVISION, and the sponsorship from CYTAVISION, there will be a live broadcast of 6 finals in the EAGLES category, as well as the awards ceremony that will take place in the afternoon of Holy Wednesday, May 1, from 13:00 to 17:00.

The European University of Cyprus will also play an important role this year in the field of organization, since through the cooperation of the organizers with this particular university, the participation of several student volunteers in the organizational structure of the tournament has been achieved.

It will also be important to help through the cooperation of the organizers with the company GREEN DOT, in the effort to maintain cleanliness in the event area but also to raise awareness of the world and children especially about the importance of cleanliness and recycling.

Social Project

Wanting to promote their social work and raise public awareness at the same time, the Karaiskaki Foundation, in collaboration with the organization, will operate a sample collection center for the needs of the bone marrow donor archive at the tournament site. Both the Karaiskaki Foundation and the organizers invite the people who will attend to support the above effort. is for us a real football celebration for young children and everyone's aim should be to protect the children, who should be given the opportunity away from the pressure and stress of winning, to enjoy and have fun with their soul The increased participation and the love of the people for the tournament makes us especially happy, but at the same time it raises the bar in terms of the effort that will be needed for a successful event. I want to thank and wish each team to each individual child good luck and every success, and to truly tell them that we are very honored to have them with us for another year.” Finally, Mr. Konstantinou thanked the sponsors and supporters who make this event a reality.