Business & Money | Tuesday 14 April, 2015 2:27 pm |

Copa Coca-Cola, the international youth football tournament has crowned its champion team in the final match played at Irqah football field in Riyadh.  Lotto Kuwait Academy, consisting of nine youths from Dammam between the ages of 13-15, triumphed over Suqour Alderiyah from Riyadh, by winning 3-2 in penalties.

The winning team not only won the highly sought after championship title, but also the opportunity to take part in the Copa Coca-Cola camp in Germany. This unique experience enables Saudi Arabian youth to join more than 1.3 million teenagers from more than 60 countries to represent their countries and compete on one field.

Mustafa Agha, infamous Head of MBC Sports and Copa Coca-Cola Ambassador was present at the finals event, adding to the excitement of the event. He said that “Being a part of the Copa Coca-Cola tournament this year has been a real pleasure for me. It has been so fun to watch our Saudi teens get involved with a great sport, work together and share their love of football with the world. Congratulations to well-deserved victors Lotto Kuwait Academy; good luck in Germany!”

Antoine Tayyar, Public Affairs and Communications Director for Coca-Cola Middle East, commented on this years tournament: “Coca-Cola would like to congratulate Lotto Kuwait Academy on their incredible performance. Coca-Cola has a long term commitment to promoting the importance and benefit of regular exercise to teens in Saudi Arabia, and to offer them the chance to live their passion for football. We are thrilled to see the number of participants reaching over 11,000 teens join in with Copa this year. This competition helps to develop positive life skills and improve football talents which align with our goal to create inclusive physical activity programs throughout the region, and fostering happier and healthier young people.”

This year, Coca-Cola asked the Middle East “Which Part Will You Play?” to motivate teenagers and their supporters to celebrate footballing passion and recognize the important, complementary roles that form a successful team.


Abdullah Arrack, of Coca-Cola Bottling Company Saudi Arabia: “As a proud supporter of football on all levels, it has been amazing to see record numbers of teens sign up for this year’s Copa Coca-Cola. Well done to Lotto Kuwait Academy for their success.”

Since the official introduction of the program in 1998, Copa Coca-Cola has expanded to more than 60 countries in six different continents. This is the fourth year that Copa Coca-Cola has enabled teams from around the country to play in the free tournament. 12,000 teens between 13-15 years old have competed across Saudi Arabia – in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam – in the past several weeks.

More than 80,000 schools globally have taken part in the competitions, which have encouraged over 1.3 million young players to follow an active, healthy lifestyle and embody values such as team spirit, friendship and respect. Through strategic partnerships with FIFA, and local endorsement from the Saudi Football Federation, Copa Coca-Cola aims to proactively nurture the future generation of Saudi football heroes.