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Internationality, prestige, values. With Abano Terme to give visibility to the main European Under-14 football tournament

12 October 2018
ELW 5893

The “Città di Abano Terme International Football Trophy” is the main Under 14 football competition in Europe and attracts the most prestigious clubs of the main European leagues since 1991. The 2018 edition, which took place from the 23 to the 27 of May in Abano Terme, included 52 matches with 8 Serie A Italian teams and 12 teams from all over Europe, featuring 400 athletes, 100 staff members and thousands of spectators in the stadium. Through the years the “Città di Abano Terme International Football Trophy” was attended by many champions that are now playing in the main European leagues - Serie A, Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga -, gaining prestigious sponsorships thanks to its technical, sport and organizational high level. We have interviewed Francesco Pozza, Deputy Mayor and Council Member for Sports of the Municipality of Abano Terme to understand the values, objectives and organization of such an appreciated event. 

20 teams from 13 countries, 52 matches in 4 days, 5 sports facilities, 400 players and over 100 people including coaches and staff members: Mr Pozza, the 27 edition of the “Città di Abano Terme International Football Trophy” reached great results. This edition was a very important one, which can be defined as the new-start-edition, after the past ones that had a low profile: this year we finally succeeded in organizing an extraordinarily successful and important event for both the territory and for the visibility it gained, with over 1 million unique visitors following the contents concerning the Trophy on several social platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), which made the city of Abano Terme well-known all over the world.

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What does this International Trophy represent for young football players, and what are the values it is meant to convey?

The choice to make the clubs of the main European Leagues participate in this Trophy is a great chance for football schools of all over the world. Certainly the Trophy’s main objective is giving visibility to young players and clubs, but it is also meant to convey important values like fair play (we have created the “Fair Play Award” for the team that proves to be particularly fair and to respect rules, the opposing team, the referee and all the people that work for this event). In addition to this, the Trophy aims to promote the city of Abano Terme and its thermal baths as touristic destination also for young generations. 

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This is an international competition: in the last edition the non-Italian clubs were 12 out of 20 and also the name of the trophy has changed to “Abano Football Trophy”. A choice with a high social value as well as a great chance to make Abano Terme well-known all over the world?

Two aspects are determining the internationality of the Trophy: first of all, the importance to promote the cultural and sport confrontation between teams coming from different countries. Secondly, the fact that Abano Terme, from a touristic point of view, has to compete not only with Italian but also with European competitors. For this reason we find it very important to make our city more international, making its landscapes, its thermal baths and its numberless resources well-known all over the world. 

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From an organizational point of view, what are the necessary resources and collaborations for the Municipality of Abano terme to support such a unique event in terms of sport, culture and territory promotion?

At the organizational level, as very important partner for the Trophy is GENC (a local non-profit association), as it makes it concretely possible to organize such an event thanks to the work of its volunteers. Moreover, the collaboration with GENT gives us the possibility to add a solidarity feature to a sport event, since a part of the resources are given to a different social project every year. I think that the Trophy can become a great showcase for the city and promote the local products, potentialities and synergies. This is an open and heartfelt appeal that we address to the enterprises of the region in view of the 28th edition.

Live coverage and social communication of the event have been managed by YAK Agency. How was this collaboration born and how is it important to communicate the Trophy through the most modern and innovative channels?

It is very important for the Trophy to have competent partners in the field of social and multimedia channels communication. The collaboration with YAK Agency definitely has enabled us to reach results - in terms of visibility - that the event had never reached before. Choosing competent and professional partners to provide specific services is the only way to reach the high quality standards of this year’s edition. A choice that has enhanced the format of the event and on which we will surely make a careful and scrupulous reflection for the coming years.

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Any foretaste for the next edition?

 Next edition’s objective is to maintain the high level of this year, involving the main clubs and increasing the prestige of the event. For this reason we will invite the top Italian and international clubs, aiming to make them participate in the Trophy together with the winning team of this edition, Chievo Verona. It is almost certain that the event will take place in May 2019: we wish to host a new sport, solidarity and promotional event and confirm the importance of the “Città di Abano Terme International Football Trophy”. 

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