For the first time at the 'Friendship Cup' in Vitebsk, a match will take place between the team of stars of Belarus and the world team

The traditional international beach soccer tournament "Friendship Cup" will be held on July 24-26 in Vitebsk with the participation of national teams from four countries. For the first time this year, the competition will take place under the auspices of FIFA as part of the official events of the international football federation.

According to the chairman of the Association "Beach Football Federation in the Republic of Belarus" Alexey Sychev, such patronage is a great honor for Belarusian football, enhances the status of the tournament, and on the other hand, entails serious responsibility. This means a fundamental change in the approach to organizing the event itself, the need to coordinate every step, down to the smallest nuances, with FIFA representatives.

In total, in addition to our compatriots, the tournament will feature the team of Iran, which is among the top five in the world, and its coach Marco Octavio from Brazil is considered one of the most respected and titled specialists, as well as the national teams of Turkey and Estonia. Initially, the footballers will play matches in a round-robin format, after which the two teams that have scored the most points will compete for the main prize, and the remaining duo will determine the third prize winner of the competition in a head-to-head match. The games will be refereed by FIFA referees - this is one of the mandatory organizational conditions.

But that's not all. For the first time within the framework of the "Friendship Cup", a match will take place between the team of stars of Belarus, which will include famous domestic footballers and will be strengthened by Belarusian artists, and the world team. Regardless of the outcome of the match, after its end, the artists will give a concert right at the stadium. Today, Alexey Khlestov is in charge of forming this part of the tournament, and he will also perform both on the field and on stage. In addition, Belarusian footballers plan to visit one of the sports schools in the regional center, where they will hold a master class for young athletes and donate sports equipment.

This year, all tournament matches are scheduled to be broadcast on the TV channel "Belarus 5".

Schedule of the VI International Beach Football Tournament - "Friendship Cup - 2015"