Coca-Cola partners with Oman Football Association for COPA Coca-Cola tournament in Oman

Coca-Cola, the world’s beverage giant, is proud to announce the completion of the first COPA Coca-Cola football tournament in Oman. The inaugural season took place in Muscat where 64 teams competed over five weeks until the excitement culminated at the finals on April 13, 2012. The final game took place on the fields of Malamin Ground in Qurum, Muscat where team Professional came out victorious over World Class with the score of 3:2.

In addition to being the first winners of COPA Coca-Cola in the Middle East, Professional 1 will be rewarded with a trip to one of the quarter final games of the Euro Cup 2012 in Ukraine, courtesy of Coca-Cola.

“We would like to extend our gratitude to The Coca-Cola Company for bringing COPA Coca-Colato Oman, allowing the youth to play their favorite sport while inspiring them to aim to reach the professional leagues,” remarked Nic Cartwright, Commercial Director of Oman Football Association.

Originated in Mexico in 1998, the first COPA Coca-Cola football teams were established in Latin America for teenagers aged 13-15. The grass roots program was initiated as part of Coca-Cola’s aim to explore the raw young talents around the world and push them to realize their goals and dreams, especially those related to football. Discovering these talents at an early age enables the COPA Coca-Cola league to further develop the youths’ talents in football and offer them a platform to be recognized by the professional leagues in the future.Today, COPA Coca-Cola has touched the lives of more than 600,000 students through at least 10,000 schools and/or youth club teams in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Coca-Cola Middle East adopted the concept of COPA Coca-Cola and brought it to the region with the first season taking place in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Palestine, and Iraq. Coca-Cola plans to spread this initiative across the region by adding new countries from season to season.

“We are very excited about bringing COPA Coca-Cola to the Middle East. Football is a sport loved and followed by many and our region is rich with tremendously talented young players. We’d like COPA Coca-Cola to offer these young talents a platform to show off their talents with the aim of seeing more participants from the region playing in professional leagues in the future,” said Antoine Tayyar, Public Affairs and Communications Director of Coca-Cola Middle East.

The COPA Coca-Cola initiative also aims to exemplify the company’s long standing commitment to active healthy living, while creating opportunities for youth to engage in activities that contribute to their well being.

In 2009, Nigerian teenager Mikel Agu was a participant in COPA Coca-Cola and nowplays for the professional team FC Porto Portugal which participated at the FIFA World Cup in 2010.