Following the success of their previous football tournaments, players can expect plenty of fun and entertaining enc-ounters when Sportsmania host their third edition.
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The Ramadan Football Tournament will have a five-a-side format and is open to men and women aged 15 and above, with proceedings getting underway from 20:30 at Dubai’s Jumeirah Lakes Towers.
So far a number of teams have already signed up and you can join them before Friday’s deadline.
The competition will consist of a group stage and knockouts and depending on the number of teams, matches will vary between 10 to 15 minutes.
Since opening earlier this year, Sportsmania have wasted no time in organising football tournaments and Jad Ghandour, their operations manager is sure Saturday’s event will be another success.
He said: “We have had a great response to our first two tournaments that we’ve held here in Sportsmania.
"Although it is Ramadan and the heat and people going on holiday may see a slight decrease in terms of number of entries, I’m still confident we will attract a lot of teams on the day.
“Previously, we have had 80 per cent of teams sign up in the last two days so we hope to expect a lot of teams on the day.
“We wanted to do it as a two-day tournament but decided to hold it on one day only as we realised that people come from different cities in the UAE just to take part.”
Matches will be played in one of the six five-a-side football pitches on a “quality artificial” turf.
While it will follow the same traditional five-a-side rules, Sportsmania will make some changes.
“To make it very interesting and exciting, we have decided to make some changes to the rules. For instance, once the ball hits the roof of the net, the play is stopped and the opposition resumes the game,” said Ghandour.
Entry costs Dh499 per team and with organisers keen to see as many people compete, there is no limit to the number of players per squad. With trophies and prizes to play for, Ghandour insists the tournament is not one to be missed.
He said: “It will be a great day out especially as the temperature will decrease in the evenings.
“The most important thing is for them to have fun and enjoy themselves.
“Sportsmania has only been open for two months and they will get to play in state-of-the-art facilities and get to experience a fun, well organised tournament.”
What: Sportsmania’s Ramadan football tournament
Where: Sportsmania, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
When: Saturday, June 27 from 20:30
Contact: Visit www.sportsmania.ae