The 25th edition of Costa Blanca Cup starts with 4,000 players from 17 countries

The 25th edition of  Costa Blanca Cup, the international reference tournament of grassroots football, is already underway. Last night the Julio Iglesias auditorium of the Parque de l'Aigüera hosted the inaugural gala of the tournament, which will take place until this Saturday at sports facilities in Benidorm and other towns in the region, and in which 4,000 players from 17 countries participate. The mayor, Toni Pérez, was in charge of opening the tournament in an auditorium full of players and relatives, and in which were also present the Councilor for Sports, Arturo Cabrillo; several councilors of the municipal corporation; and Fernando Brotons, director of Tour-Sport, company that organizes the sporting event.

Around 22.00 hours the members of many of the participating teams made their entrance into the auditorium, which paraded down the central corridor of the Parque de l'Aigüera from the SSMM Reyes de España Square.

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, welcomed the members of the 278 participating teams to the city and the tournament and stressed that this sporting event is "bigger and more important" each year. On this 25th edition, Pérez highlighted the impulse "to the use of new technologies" given by the organization "to make it a more modern and more sustainable tournament", with its own 'app' that allows a virtual competition through the Internet and a digital management of all the matches.

The mayor also influenced the inclusive nature of the Costa Blanca Cup, with its Inclusive category, in which "all the protagonism is for teams with players with some disability" and that the tournament was a pioneer in implementing several editions.

Fireworks put the final point to the gala, in which several technological spectacles of light and sound could also be seen.

Data of the 2018 edition

Altea, Calpe, La Nucía, La Vila Joiosa and Polop complete, together with Benidorm, the list of venues for a tournament that is based on three pillars: the promotion of values, the international character of the event and the economic impact "in the host venues to the participants.

276 teams from 17 countries on four continents: Europeans France, Russia, England, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Spain and the newcomer Turkey; Morocco as an African representative, the Asians Japan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, as well as the United States and Brazil. In total, almost 4,000 players, including 400 girls, who will play 660 games and spend a week living on and off the turf to generate 24,000 direct overnight stays in the town.

Among the novelties planned for this edition highlights the release of an own mobile App, free and available on both Android and iOS and will become the communication tool with the teams, as it collects all the information of the tournament: match calendar , classifications, news, activities. On the other hand, this edition will serve to launch the celebration of the first Costa Blanca Virtual Cup, which will involve 64 players representing 64 clubs present in the tournament. The competition will be held on Friday afternoon, although the final will be held during the football party, which this year will be held on Friday 6 in Foietes Park.

It also highlights the increase of matches in the modality 'Inclusive'. In this 25th edition the poster of the past year is repeated, with the presence of Newcastle and the Valencian First Division clubs: Levante UD, Villarreal CF and Valencia CF.