The Minister for Gozo Giovanna Debono, this morning met with the Nadur Youngsters under 11’s team, who will shortly off to participate this year Gothia Cup 2011 which is going to be held in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The Gothia Cup is a youth association football tournament held annually in Gothenburg, Sweden, open for both boys and girls of ages 11 to 19 years. With respect to the number of participants, it is the world’s largest football tournament: in 2007, a total of 34,200 players and team leaders from 1585 teams and 65 nations participated. Gothia Cup was started in 1975 with 275 participating teams, and the current champions are Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Spanning one week in July each year, the event becomes the dominant event in Gothenburg, with (as of 2006) 4,320 games played on 91 fields, and 300,000 visitors to the centre on Heden. According to the tourist authorities of Gothenburg, the 2006 Gothia Cup generated 282 million Swedish kronor in tourist income for Gothenburg city and 118 million kronor in tax income for Sweden.

The Nadur Youngsters team will be the only team from Malta and Gozo to participate in the 2011 tournament.

This is the first time an under 11’s team has participated in the Gothia Cup, however this year will be the third time the Nadur Youngsters has competed in this international tournament. The Gozitan contingent will be composed of 25 people including four coaches.

The Minister for Gozo wished the team success for the tournament and also presented a financial contribution from the Ministry for Gozo towards the costs for the team, who are representing Gozo at this event.

Permalink: Nadur under 11’s Youngsters participate in Gothia Cup 2011