By Paul Nicholson in Paris
September 7 – The Legends World Cup was officially unveiled at the Aspire Global Summit yesterday. the brainchild of the World Sport Company, an independent middle eastern company with offices in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Holland. The first edition is targeted for 2016.
Conceived as a 16 team event made up of 11 national squads and five invitational dream teams compiled by region, players will be primarily drawn from the 35 to 45 age group and will have to pass certain fitness criteria to play.
Fouad Gaddur, director of business development, said: “We have all seen legends playing against each other. This is how we can create a global legends platform and bring them all together…a big part of this is the charity element. Our slogan is Legendary players for less privileged.”
Former Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert and Spanish midfielder Gaizka Mendieta were on hand to add legends credibility to the launch. “This enables me to give something back, stand in the high lights again amongst friends who I played with,” said Kluivert. “Who doesn’t want to play in a World Cup,” echoed Mendieta.
Though not a FIFA-sanctioned tournament, the organisers have been careful to speak to governing bodies about the concept and say that within certain guidelines there is encouragement for them from the game’s powerbrokers.
Brazil, Germany, Spain, Argentina and England are among the 11 national legends teams expected to be formed, with dream teams made up for Africa, Asia and the Middle East. This will enable a number of football legends to compete who never qualifed for a World Cup but had outstanding club careers.
The next stage for the organisers is to agree a host city or country deal. The first event will be in the Middle East and the organisers emphasise that this event is for the world, not just the western world. “We hope we can do this in Qatar,” said Gaddur. “We want to secure the first three tournaments that will take place every two years.”
Matches will be two halves of 30 minutes with breaks after 15 minutes. Rolling subs will allow larger squads to be played. The tournament will be comprised of four groups of four teams with winners and runners up going through to knock out rounds.
Planned to take place over 10-14 days, the event will be a celebration of football and the legends with a number of other football art and charity events running alongside the match play.
The financial structure is ambitious – gathering up to 350 legends for two weeks is an expensive business, but the organisers are confident that their model makes sense. Host cities will be expected to provide facilities while sponsorships and event sales will make up the rest of the budget. “We believe the concept is self sustainable,” said Gaddur.
Around the tournament the organiser have plans for a variety of charity fund-raising events using the power of the legends and their marketability.
Legends events have been a tough financial nut to crack in the past, despite the passion and loyalty that the personalities generate amongst football fans worldwide. The new proposal has already struck the right chord with some of football’s biggest names and they will be able to generate enthusiasm amongst their peers.
And if Qatar does step up to be the first host it could prove to be an encouragement for legends selected to play but who may be starting to physically fray around the edges. In Aspetar, Qatar has developed of the leading sports medical and rehabilitation facilities in the world.
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