Alanya will host the Beach Soccer World Winners Cup, the club world championship of the sport, from 26 October to 1 November, with 48 teams from 33 countries on five continents expected on the Antalya resort’s sand pitches, the Anadolu Agency (AA) reported on Saturday.
The tournament, known in Turkish as the Plaj Futbolu Dünya Kulüpler Şampiyonası, has separate men’s and women’s competitions. According to details released at the event’s launch in Alanya on 13 October, 32 men’s teams will play in eight groups and 16 women’s teams in four groups. The group stage, with 72 matches, runs from 26 to 28 October, followed by the quarter-finals on 30 October, the semi-finals on 31 October and the finals on 1 November.
Venue and organisers
Matches will be played at the 23 Projects Alanya International Beach Sports Centre, which has three pitches and a 3,300-seat stand, according to launch coverage in the Turkish press. The event is organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the sport’s international promoter, with a Turkish events company. Local backers include Alanya Municipality, the Alanya Tourism Promotion Foundation (ALTAV) and the Alanya Tourist Business Association (ALTİD), with approval from the district governor’s office and the Turkish Football Federation.
AA said the Ministry of Youth and Sports also supports the tournament. Matches will be shown on TRT Spor and on FIFA’s online channel, and games from the quarter-finals onward will be broadcast live in more than 70 countries, the agency reported.
Adil Müftüoğlu, a former player and head coach of Türkiye’s national beach soccer team who now coaches the host club, told AA that about 1,000 athletes would take part. He said Alanya first hosted the competition in 2019 and hoped the town would one day stage a FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Beach soccer has been played in Türkiye in a league format under the football federation since 2006, he added.
Home side opens on Monday
Türkiye is represented in the men’s event by Serenity Alanya Belediyespor, which plays in Group A. The team meets BetVam of Bulgaria on 26 October, Batumi of Georgia on 27 October and Limón of Costa Rica on 28 October, with all three games starting at 15:30. Müftüoğlu said the club was considered a favourite to advance from its group but that the picture would become clearer once squads were finalised, since each side may field three foreign players.
Autumn events for Alanya
The championship is part of a run of autumn sports events on the Antalya coast, which local tourism groups use to extend the season beyond the summer peak. The province continues to draw large numbers of foreign visitors this year, as nine-month arrival figures for Antalya showed, and national visitor data point to the same trend. Hotels in the wider region have also been reporting a longer autumn season.
For residents and visitors interested in the town itself, our guide to living in Alanya covers neighbourhoods, costs and property.
Sources
- Alanya, 48 takımın katılacağı Plaj Futbolu Dünya Kulüpler Şampiyonası’na ev sahipliği yapacak (AA/Haberler.com)
- Dünya plaj futbolunun kalbi Alanya’da atacak (Milli Gazete)
- 48 takım iki kupa tek kent (Posta)
Photo: TiAchen Aier / Unsplash License, via Unsplash
