This weekend, 16 of the very best U15 teams from the United Arab Emirates will battle it out to win themselves a place at the 2024 SuperCupNI.
This all comes following an innovative partnership between the Mina Cup, situated in Dubai and the organisers behind SuperCupNI last year.
Some of the best talent in the United Arab Emirates will descend upon the JA Sports Centre with the aim of not only securing their place at the Mina Cup in April 2024, but also qualifying for the SuperCupNI Premier section next summer.
Tournament management team member Sam Gamble has been working closely with the founder of the Mina Cup, Chris Brown over the last 12 months and said that it is a partnership which has huge potential.
“We were delighted to form this innovative partnership with the Mina Cup. Chris is a former tournament graduate, having played for Crewe Alexandra in the late 90s and he had such fond memories of our tournament that he wanted to establish his own tournament in Dubai.
“Chris visited our tournament in the summer, and he took in a number of games including our finals and he was blown away by the high standard of the teams.
“He was overwhelmed with just how warmly he was welcomed and the hard work that our volunteers put in to make our tournament happen.”
“We will be keeping our eye on the action and the results as they come in this weekend, and it will be exciting to see who will win the UAE qualifiers and become our first ever entrant from the United Arab Emirates.”
The teams competing for the chance to qualify for SuperCupNI 2024 include a range of local academies including Dubai City FC, Fursan Hispania, IJF Academy and Go Pro Sports and a number of high-profile European clubs and leagues with academies and performance schools in Dubai including Manchester City, a La Liga Academy and Barcelona.
The 2023 Mina Cup attracted teams from across the world with the likes of Crystal Palace, Pumas UNAM, Gornik Zabrze from Poland, New York Red Bulls, Yokohoma FC and Southampton FC taking on some of the very best talent from the Middle East.
You can keep up to date with all action via the Mina Cup website https://www.theminacup.com/