After two unprecedented editions, due to the pandemic (2020 and 2021), the MIC youth football tournament returns stronger than ever and ready to put on a show from this Wednesday to Sunday, where they will compete on the Costa Brava up to 300 teams and 6,000 participants from 24 different countries. A prestigious tournament in which you can see the best academies in the world and through which players now consolidated in the elite have passed. Here are some examples: Leo Messi, Neymar, Ansu Fati, Carvajal, Casemiro, Marcus Rashford, Joao Felix, Mohamed Salah, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Gerard Piqué o Gavi.
“We are happy and excited, we are above forecasts although somewhat below 2019. We would have signed 200 teams and finally we are 300. We are eager, we want to make the best MIC in history”, commented Juanjo Rovira, tournament director, who commented that “It is exciting to see teams that have to undergo PCR to return to their country, they make a lot of effort and we have responsibility, we cannot fail them“, he deepened. The competition will take place in 33 venues, with Lloret de Mar, Palamós and Figueres as the most emblematic.
The tournament will feature representatives from the United States, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Indonesia and South Korea. From Europe there will be teams from Italy, Portugal, France, UK, Sweden, Romania, Israel and Spain. LaLiga will also have its role. From the U-12 to U-20 categories, both male and female, 11 of the 20 First Division teams will compete (FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, RCD Espanyol, Club Atlético de Madrid, Valencia CF, Villarreal CF, Real Betis Balompié, Sevilla FC, Real Sociedad de Fútbol, Athletic Club de Bilbao and RC Celta de Vigo). Manchester United FC, Liverpool FC, Paris Saint-Germain FC, FC Oporto, Olympique de Marseille and Olympique de Lyon complete the cartel.
300 teams, 30 countries and more than 6000 participants. Today we inaugurate the @micfootballcupa tournament that brings together values such as cultural exchange, transversality and teamwork
Thanks to the organization of the MIC to make Figueres the inaugural space of this competition pic.twitter.com/Tlze8IznIE
– Agnès Lladó Saus ????️ (@ALladoSaus) April 13, 2022
The tournament, which this year again has the Diputació de Girona and CaixaBank as main partners, will move around 8,000 people including players, coaches, volunteers (more than 200), parents and referees. It has been shown that the MIC improves the positioning of the Costa Brava as a Sports Tourism destination and projects it internationally. According to the Economic Impact Study of the MIC – Mediterranean International Cup 2018 commissioned by the Costa Brava Girona Tourist Board, the 2018 MICFootball generated in the territory a return of more than 11.5 million euros with a budget of 2.8 million. This year, the forecast is close to 10 million euros. It is estimated that around 200,000 spectators will attend the 720 matches.
The values that MICFootball tries to transfer are also reflected with the Dani Montesinos Sports Journalism Award, with the aim of remembering the figure of the journalist and with the aim of promoting sports journalism and promoting young journalists. The award, promoted by MICSports with the collaboration of Mediapro, will recognize for the 10th edition a work prepared by a journalism student who, at the same time, will obtain an internship on the GOL Channel.