(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
The hugely popular Jeem Cup International Football Tournament will kick off on February 13 with participation of 20 countries, event organisers have said.
The competition, now into its third year, will be held under the patronage of H H Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani, wife of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
The Jeem Cup is for children aged between 11-13.
The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy is the 'golden sponsor of the competition. Other sponsors include BeIN Sports (platinum sponsor), the Qatar Tourism Authority, Ooredoo and the Qatar Olympic Committee.
The Jeem Cup was launched in 2014. More than 1200 players from 80 schools joined players from 10 other Arab countries during the championship.
The second edition saw the participation of 1920 players representing 128 schools from 16 Arab countries.
This year's edition has an international flavour to it. A total of eight foreign teams namely Brazil, Russia, Italy, Croatia, France, Chile, China, and Portugal will take part in the competition.
There are 12 teams from Arab countries taking part this year as well. They are hosts Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia.
The teams have been divided into four groups of five sides each. Qatar will play against Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Morocco and China.
Egypt's football legend Mohammed Abo Traika and Qatari superstar Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan took part in the draw held on Wednesday.
Saad Al- Hudaifi, Jeem Cup Manager, said: 'The tournament received tremendous support from the sponsors who provided required resources to make the event a big success believing in the significance of supporting local and international initiatives and events. Jeem Cup has achieved enormous success in the field of children football.
Muhammed Abu Trika, Former Egyptian Captain, Andey Grey, Former Scotland Captain, Nabeel Maalool, Former Tunisia Captain, Ibrahim Khalafan, former Qatar captain and Ian Coolen, Secretary General of International Sport Federation announced the names of the countries at the launching event.
Group-A includes Oman, Algeria, Bahrain, the UAE and Italy. GROUP-B includes Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Morocco and China. GROUP-C includes Brazil, Kuwait, Chile, Russia and Sudan. GROUP-D includes Tunisia, Croatia, France, Jordan and Portugal.
The winning team will get a cash prize of QR 200,000 with trophy and gold medal to be distributed to each team member.
The team which finishes as runners-up will receive QR 150,000 and silver medal for each team member. The third-best side will receive prizes worth QR 100,000 with bronze medals for each team member. The top three players of the tournament will receive QR 50,000 each. The final game will be played at Lekhwiya Stadium on February 15 at 4 pm while all other games will be held at Al- Thumama football fields from February 13 to 14.
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