India’s first international football pre-season tournament, Toyota Yaris LaLiga World, will be held in Kochi with Indian Super League (ISL) club Kerala Blasters FC, Melbourne City FC and Girona FC from LaLiga locking horns in a three-way tournament. The three sides will playacross five days at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi, starting on the 24th of July.
The tournament has been created to showcase India as a pre-season football destination for clubs around the globe, with an aim to creating a calendar event at a grand scale. It will celebrate the growing love and passion for the game in the country and provide top-notch football action to Indian fans who crave for a world–class experience.
This edition spans three continents and promises to be a truly international event. One of ISL’s biggest clubs, Kerala Blasters FC, will look to kick start their pre-season playing these top foreign clubs at home. Melbourne City FC, managed by Warren Joyce, will come in after a strong third-placed finish in the recently concluded and hotly contested A-League, the best finish by the Club in their history. LaLiga’s Girona FC will look to add Spanish flavour on their maiden trip to India. After joining the top-flight last season, Girona FC made a strong statement beating defending champions Real Madrid.
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Scott Munn, CEO Melbourne City FC said, “This is Melbourne City’s first ever visit to India, and the whole squad are incredibly excited about meeting the fans in Kochi and playing in front of such a passionate crowd. High-quality opposition is an important part of our pre-season preparation, and we are delighted to be taking on both Kerala Blasters and our sister-club Girona FC in this brand new tournament.”
Delfí Geli, President, Girona FC said, “It is an honour for our club to participate in this tournament in India. For Girona FC it will be a special experience as it will be the first time our team has played away from Europe since its foundation 88 years ago.We are looking forward to starting the tournament and showing the football that we’ve displayed in LaLiga to the Indian football fans and the world.”
Varun Tripuraneni, CEO, Kerala Blasters FC said, “This will be a perfect start to our pre-season preparations as we play against two international clubs of great repute. It will be a treat for football fans in Kochi and we are expecting the crowd to come out in large numbers and enjoy some high quality football.”
Mr. Vivek Sethia, CEO, India On Track, a company that is aco-promoter of the Tournament, said, “The vision behind this initiative was to host an international football event in India that could build on the excitement after the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Kerala is fast emerging as the new football capital of India and hence we feel it is the right place to host this stature of aninternational pre-season tournament. The aim is to showcase and share the skills, passion and knowledge about the game. We believe that Toyota Yaris LaLiga World will be a milestone in Indian Football, helping the sport grow to greater strengths.”
The tickets for the tournament will start at INR 275 and will be available through the, Official Ticketing Partner, PayTM at https://insider.in/toyota-yaris-laliga-world/
