Contributed

RED STRIPE, through their brand Red Stripe Light, and the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) have brought the sand and sea to local football as the Red Stripe Light Beach Futbol tournament was launched.

Beach football has been played professionally for over 10 years across the world and the JFF, wishing to establish Jamaica as one of the participating countries, hosted a press briefing at its New Kingston office on Thursday where the announcement was made.

Twelve teams selected by fans as their favourites will compete in the tournament which begins on Sunday, July 11.

National Premier League champs Tivoli Gardens head the list of teams which also include KSAFA Super League champs Santos, Arnett Gardens, Harbour View, Portmore United, Village United, Waterhouse, Rivoli United, Reno, Seba United, Constant Spring and Wadadah. The 12 will be divided in three zones of four. The top three zone leaders along with the highest ranked second place team will advance to the semi-finals and then the final. The preliminary rounds will be played on July 11, 18 and 25 at Hellshire beach, St. Catherine and the semi-finals and final played at Time and Place beach in Trelawny on August 7 and 8.

ROUND ROBIN FORMAT

Argentina's national beach football team and an All-Star team from Brazil have been invited to play the four semi-finalists on a round robin format. The teams will each join two semi-finalists and play-off to advance to the final.

Games will be played in three 12-minute periods with five players from each team on the field at once. The playing area is smaller than a regular surface and measures 28 metres in length and a width of 37 metres. Five hundred thousand dollars are up for grabs in the tournament as each semi-finalist pockets $100,000 and the winner an additional $100,000. President of the JFF, Crenston Boxhill, lauded Red Stripe for their 'novel idea of injecting the entertainment value of the sport'. He, along with JFF first vice-president George Evans, predicted great success for the tournament. 'We proudly join hands with Red Stripe Light to ensure the success of this event,' Evans stated. For Red Stripe, this was another medium of displaying their support for the development of local football while adding an entertainment value to the sport. 'Today marks a historic and new development of football in Jamaica,' said Wayne Lawrence, marketing director of Red Stripe. 'This is a big win for football fans and beach lovers alike. Imagine going to the beach to enjoy a fantastic game of football... Red Stripe Light is proud to introduce this novel idea to local sport in Jamaica.'


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