Dubai to host 40 international teams in the MINA Cup next April

• Newcastle and Norwich of England, Atlas of Mexico, and Chicago of America lead the international teams from various continents

The Mina Cup is back for its 3rd year and has grown in age groups and the number of teams competing with a record number of countries taking part.

The event kicks off with an opening ceremony for over 700 players & coaches, staff at the JA Beach Hotel, Palmito Garden. The tournament then takes place over 3 days from April 4th – 6th at the JA Sports Centre & Shooting Club & Precision Football and is free entrance for all spectators daily from 3.30pm with activities for the family.

40 teams across 5 age groups from U12-U16 will battle it out to become the Mina Cup champions and entrants cover a record number of continents and consist of Saudi owned Premiership Club Newcastle United aswell as Norwich City from England. Atlas from Mexico, Chicago Fire from the States and two the Abu Dhabi Owned City group club's in Mumbai City and Melbourne City from Australia.

There are also teams from India, Qatar, Ethiopia, Mali and New York. These clubs will face the very best private football academies of the UAE who have qualified from the national tournament in October 2022 consisting of the likes of Miguel Salgado's Fursan Hispania, Man City Soccer schools, Barca Academy, La Liga and Go Pro Sports.

The founder of Mina Cup, Chris Brown said, "We are delighted to build on the success of our previous two years by expanding the tournament to 40 teams coming from Central & North America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania & of course the Middle East. The quality of youth football in the UAE continues to improve and we feel it our responsibility to help showcase that. I'm also incredibly excited to announce the first step in our Global Mina Cup expansion by announcing the Norwich City Mina Cup UK in October from their amazing first team Lotus Training ground".

The title sponsor for the Mina Cup is JA Resorts & Hotels, and other official partners include Umbro, Precision Football, Noon, Samshi TV and is run in association with Dubai Sports Council. The organizers have partnered with UAE based Augustus Media for Smashi Sports to screen all maches live to enable families and followers to watch the matches from around the world live on their digital devices.

Former Man United & England Legend Teddy Sheringham who is the Mina Cup Ambassador returning for a second year said "I am delighted to be back for the 3rd year supporting the Mina Cup. The tournament grows in numbers and quality each year and for me I enjoy being with my family watching the games daily and seeing the excitement on the faces of the young players taking part".

The group stage draw for the Mina Cup qualifiers will take place at 11.00am hours at Dubai Sports Council local time on Wednesday 20th March 2023 The organizers will be streaming the draw event live on their Smashi TV.