Gothia Cup

Gothia Cup
Founded 1975
Website http://www.gothiacup.se/

The Gothia Cup is an international youth football tournament organized by professional football club BK Häcken, which has been held annually since 1975 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Considered the biggest tournament in the world in terms of participating teams,[1][2] competing youth teams throughout the world enter the competition. The Gothia Cup is also Sweden’s largest annual event[2].

Overview

The opening ceremony and finals are held at Ullevi, Gothenburg.

Fireworks at the opening ceremony.

Spanning one week Gothia Cup is a youth football tournament held annually in Gothenburg, Sweden, open for both boys and girls of ages 11 to 18 years. With regards to the number of participants, it is the world's second largest football tourmenent after Norway Cup: in 2011, a total of 35,200 players from 1567 teams and 72 nations participated. In 2017, 1730 teams from 82 nations participated. Gothia Cup started in 1975 with 275 participating teams. In July each year, the event becomes the dominant event in Gothenburg, with (as of 2017) 4,349 games played on 110 fields, and 300,000 visitors to the center on Heden. According to the tourist authorities of Gothenburg, the 2006 Gothia Cup generated 282 million Swedish kronor in tourist income for Gothenburg city and 118 million kronor in tax income for Sweden.

Teams from many countries participate. These include Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Austria, Norway, Finland, the United States, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Iceland, France, Bolivia, Denmark, Canada, Australia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Mongolia, Kenya, India, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, England, China, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Morocco, Sudan, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon, Liberia, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldavia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Romania, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Spain, Greece, Syria, Malta, Montenegro, Croatia, Turkey, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Slovakia, Serbia, Singapore, Taiwan, the district of Hong Kong, Albania, Belarus, Bermuda, Israel, Malawi, Botswana, Bahrain, and Pakistan, etc.

Gothia Cup China

The concept of Gothia Cup is exporting to China. From 2016 Gothia Cup has a sister tournament in Shenyang, China, the Gothia Cup China. A new international tournament based on the same concept as the Gothia Cup: To create a meeting place for the world's youth. Gothia Cup China will offer the Gothia Cup’s well-known quality and organization along with Chinese tradition and culture. The first Gothia Cup China starts from the 13th to 19th of August, 2016. At the newly-built Gothia Cup Football park the Tournament has 250 participating teams from 20 nations. Gothia Cup Football Park is a large park stretching 3.3 kilometers from side to side along Hun River, with 40 playing fields now to be enlarged to 100 fields in 2017.

Numbers

Year Teams Nations Players Games Fields
1975 275 6 700 16
1976 320
1977 350 11
1978 400 20
1979 425 20 8000
1980 390 18
1981 360 17
1982 265 18
1983 400 11000
1984 440 30
1985 502 29
1986 550 15000
1987 754 33
1988 727 32
1989 796 34
1990 937 42
1991 912 39
1992 745 41
1993 810 44
1994 917 47
1995 1094 48
1996 1133 46
1997 1158 52
1998 1124 56
1999 1186 58
2000 1173 48
2001 1184 60 3140 64
2002 1217 51
2003 1319 46
2004 1476 57
2005 1446 54
2006 1459 62 4500
2007 1551 59 33346 4320 91
2008 1571 61 34400 4520 99
2009 1505 58 34200 4521 110
2010 1567 65 35200 4520 110
2011 1570 70 35400 4520 110
2012 1615 78 36100 4580 110
2014 1650 73 37400 4142 100
2015 1754 74 39640 4425 110
2016 1661 80 37538 4170 110
2017 1730 82 39098 4349 110
2018 1731 78 4424

Most victories

Clubs

Clubs with five or more victories

  • 1 IF Brommapojkarna (SWE) 28
  • 2 AIK FF (SWE) 13
  • 3 Tahuichi (BOL)10
  • 4 GAIS (SWE) 10
  • 5 Hammarby IF (SWE) 10
  • 6 Pequeninos de Jockey (BRA) 9
  • 7 AD Cantolao (PER) 7
  • 8 Västra Frölunda IF (SWE) 6
  • 9 IF Elfsborg (SWE) 6
  • 10 Hutchison Vale (SCO) 6
  • 11 Kampala Kids League (UGA) 6
  • 12 US Voluntas (ITA) 6
  • 13 Främmestad (SWE) 5
  • 14 CD San Gabriel (ESP) 5
  • 15 Dallas Texans (USA) 5

Nations

Nations with 10 or more victories

  • 1 Sweden 216
  • 2 USA 31
  • 3 Germany 24
  • 4 Taiwan 19
  • 5 Scotland 18
  • 6 Brazil14
  • 7 Mexico 13
  • 8 France 13
  • 9 Finland 11
  • 10 Italy 11
  • 11 Bolivia 10
  • 12 England 10

Famous participants

This list includes notable players who played in Gothia Cup in their youth and later had been playing for their national teams.[3][4][5][6]

Sexual harassment

In the 2016 tournament, a team from Morocco[7][8] was rejected from the Cup after its team members including its 36-year-old manager and about 30 boys from other teams sexually harassed three 16-year-old girls as crowds were exiting after the opening ceremony.[8] The 36-year-old was sentenced to two months in prison and to pay damages to each of the three victims by the Gothenburg District Court.[9] The other assailants could not be identified.[7]

Age cheating

The Under 18 competition in 2013 was won by Kampala Junior Team[10][11] from Uganda who defeated GAIS 5–2 after penalties[12] with the assistance of over-age players. The triumphant Kampala side fielded KCCA FC goalkeeper Jamal Salim[13][14] and midfielder Gaddafi Kiwanuka albeit without knowledge of their Lugogo employers. Salim, a Ugandan international player, changed his name to Omar Magoola and made an immense contribution in the finals by saving two penalties.[15][16] Besides Salim and Kiwanuka, Ssali Edris Tamale, a third year student at Nkumba University, also featured for the side. He is reported to have changed his identity by changing his name from 'Tamale' to 'Yamale' in the new passport he acquired. Another age cheat in this squad is identified as Eriasa Sserwadda, a graduate from Nkumba University.[15]

See also

References[2]

  1. ↑ "World's largest youth soccer cup gets underway in Gothenburg". www.sverigesradio.se. SR International – Radio Sweden. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Gothia Cup 2018". Goteborg.com. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
  3. ↑ "Visste du att… - Gothia Cup". Gothiacup.se. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  4. ↑ "All Star Team - Gothia Cup". Gothiacup.se. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  5. ↑ Erik Ternebornerik.terneborn@gt.se (2012-07-16). "Gothia Cup har växt ur sin kostym | GT". Expressen.se. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-06-05. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  7. 1 2 Hemidach, Amjad (25 July 2016). "Moroccan Youth Football Team Disqualified for Sexually Assaulting Swedish Girls". Morocco World News. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  8. 1 2 Löfgren, Emma (21 July 2016). "Adult boss 'groped girls' at Swedish kids' football cup". the local. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  9. ↑ Ekstedt Larsson, Sanna; Nordén, Sofia (4 August 2016). "Fängelse för Gothia-cup ledaren". Nyheter - Väst. Sveriges Television. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "Kampala Junior Team". Beyond Sport World. Archived from the original on 2014-02-17. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  11. ↑ "Gothia Cup 2013". Kampala Junior Team. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  12. ↑ "Gothia Cup - Finals". Gothia Cup. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  13. ↑ "Kampala Junior Team On Verge Of Gothia Cup Glory". Chimpreport. 2013-07-19. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  14. ↑ "Kampala side wins Gothia Cup". Daily Monitor. 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  15. 1 2 "Age Cheats: KJT use over-age players in Gothia and Tivoli Cups". Kawowo Sports. 2013-07-31. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  16. ↑ "Age Cheats: Jamal Salim, Kiwanuka feature for KJT U-18 in Go". News Kenya. 2013-07-31. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
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