Officials hail success of NEOM Beach Soccer Cup ahead of finals

NEOM: Officials have hailed the success of the NEOM Beach Soccer Cup ahead of tournament’s final round on Saturday night.

Coaches of the men and women’s side finalists took part in a press conference to preview their respective showdowns.

The conference was attended by Joan Cusco, FIFA Beach Soccer Worldwide president; Jan Paterson, NEOM Sports director; Teruki Tabata, Japan men’s coach; Marco Octavio, Brazil men’s coach; Lorena Ruiz, Spain women’s coach; and Fabricio Santos, Brazil women’s coach.

In an opening address, Jan Paterson welcomed guests and extended her appreciation to FIFA for their support in hosting the event at NEOM.

She said: “It is absolutely a privilege to sit on this table with such great figures in beach soccer. In fact, it is a milestone for NEOM and its success will help to further position the region as a natural hub for the beach soccer sport.”

Paterson also praised Cusco for giving his full support to the tournament.

The FIFA beach soccer president began his speech by marking the relationship between the sport and NEOM.

He said: “NEOM Beach Soccer Cup is one of the best beach soccer events ever. I always tell people around that whenever we go to NEOM, we get the best hospitality and always enjoy our stay here in Saudi Arabia.

“The tournament has been amazingly organized and every year we come to NEOM we see the difference.”

He thanked NEOM for “the support that they always give beach soccer and the amazing events we have done together,” and hailed the teams and officials from the local organising committee that had attended the conference.

Asked by Arab News about the expansion of the sport around the world, Cusco said: “We work to make the sport grow all over the world and at all