Costa Blanca Cup is consolidated in its 25th edition as an international benchmark of grassroots football

The 25th edition of Costa Blanca Cup held in Benidorm from July 1 to 7, was presented this morning by the mayor Toni Pérez, the Sports Councilor Arturo Cabrillo and Fernando Brotons, Director of Tour-Sport, an organizing company of an event that has already been consolidated as a football tournament of national and international reference. This edition the participation of 4,000 players from 17 countries has been confirmed and has already become the sporting event with the largest number of participants not only from Benidorm, but from the entire province of Alicante.

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, was accompanied by several members of the Corporation and stressed the importance of a sporting event that throughout his brilliant career "has not only grown in the sporting aspect and in the number of participants, but also it has also grown in the human aspect and in the quality of the personal encounter that the participants keep ". The mayor also stressed that Costa Blanca Cup "in its commitment to innovation and technology, coincides with a line of action shared with Benidorm in its desire to become the first smart tourist destination in the world. Our commitment to new technologies is at the service of sustainability, and Costa Blanca Cup is innovating in the same direction ". Toni Pérez finally stressed that "not only is it an event that articulates the region and generates social wealth, but it also supposes a platform for the promotion of sports tourism of the first order and, at the same time, helps to reinforce our commitment to the universal accessibility of people through Costa Blanca Cup Inclusive ".

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 ".

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 the Foietes Park.

Also noteworthy is the increase in matches in the "Inclusive" modality, a tournament that the Costa Blanca Cup pioneered when incorporating the physical activity of young people with and without disabilities, to practice sports as a team. In this 25th edition the poster of last year is repeated, with the presence of Newcastle and the Valencian First Division clubs: Levante UD, Villarreal CF and Valencia CF.

As usual, the opening ceremony will be held on Monday night after the dispute of the first day, and will gather all the expeditions in the Julio Iglesias Auditorium, in one of the acts that has become Costa's hallmark. Blanca Cup and that offers a real dimension of the volume of the tournament as well as a unique experience for the players. Due to the large number of participants and not to make the act excessively long, this year the parade of players will depart from the Plaza de SSMM the Kings of Spain and not from the beach.