The organizing committee of the ‘Pepsi Street Skills 2008’ football challenge today announced the names of the five winning players out of the 300 participants in the Central Region competition that was held on June 18, 2008 at the Al Malaz Stadium in Riyadh.
In total, more than 1000 players have competed in the second phase competitions held in Al-Khobar, Jeddah, Abha and Riyadh respectively, aspiring to win the trip of a life time and travel to Europe to meet Pepsi stars Fabregas, Messi & Henry in London and Barcelona.
The winners of the Riyadh competition are: Mohammad Abdul Aziz, Ali Sultan, Salman Saad, Saeed Abood and Fawaz Hamad.
They join the winners of the other city competitions, who are: Al-Khobar - Ahmad Hasan Al Shehri, Ayman Mohammad Masrahi, Fahd Mohammad Mubarak, Omar Mohammad and Mohammad Saleh Maymounah; Jeddah - Ahmad Fayraq, Adel Jamal, Batar Mohammad, Met'eb Badr and Hatem Azhari; Abha - Abdul Rahman Sayyed Al Shahrani, Abdul Rahman Mohammad Jobran, Abulaziz Sayyed Jaber, Abdullah Mohammad Al Dbeis and Ahmad Noor Hussein.
Mr. Ibrahim Binaquil, GCC Senior Brand Manager–Colas at PepsiCo International, noted that this final stage of the Pepsi Street Skills 2008 in the Kingdom generated great excitement among the players and the spectators. Commenting on the high level of skills displayed, he said: “The arbitration committee followed strict rules in applying the criteria for assessing the merits of the players and deciding those best qualified to advance to the next stage of the competition. Pepsi congratulates not only the winners but also all the players who showed that the Kingdom has a great abundance of talented young footballers.”
A points system is used to evaluate the skills and capabilities of the contestants as they play on private football fields measuring 40 x 30 meters. Each player is also given the chance to show off his best skills in a two minute demonstration which is video taped for showing on the Pepsi Street Skills 2008 website to allow viewers to have their say in the competition by voting online for their favorite player.
In anticipation of the huge number of applications PepsiCo International implemented a number of electronic registration channels including IVR telephone, the website www.pepsiarabia.com and the organizer’s website www.axemevents.com.
Concluding the announcement, Mr. Binaquil stated: “Pepsi is committed to supporting and nurturing the next generation of Arab football players and providing them with opportunities to develop their talents to the highest level, so that the best have the skills to bring honor to their countries by competing at international level.”
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About PepsiCo International
PepsiCo International is one of the world’s premier consumer products companies focused on convenience foods and beverages. With a presence in the GCC dating back more than 50 years, PepsiCo today operates through a network of ten local bottlers, producing and marketing products which include Pepsi Cola, Mirinda, 7UP, Mountain Dew, Tropicana and Aquafina.
