Muscat: Four local qualifiers for the Neymar Jr’s Five event were held during the past two consecutive weekends in Bausher, Maabella, Sohar and Nizwa. The top 16 teams to come out on top at the Red Bull event will go on to compete against the best footballers in the country.
Preparations are now underway in Salalah for the next local qualifiers on February 26 in search of the top teams to participate in the Oman final on March 4.
More than 35 countries from six continents are participating in the global five-aside football tournament that comes with a twist – it does not include goalkeepers and players have to score a goal and eliminate a player from the opposing team. The game goes on for 10 minutes until the whole team is eliminated.
The national champions will advance to the finals in July in Praia Grande, where Neymar Jr grew up, started his professional career and lately founded “Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr”.
The world final will be held in July at the Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The institute’s aim is to offer extracurricular educational and sporting activities to the most socially disadvantaged children and families to promote social inclusion and encourage participation in the community. The Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr was opened in 2014 and is the second 'FutbolNet' program in Brazil in partnership with FC Barcelona Foundation after a first was set up in the favelas in Rio de Janeiro two years earlier.
The winner of the World Final will recieve a trip to Barcelona, accompanied by Neymar Jr. to attend one of the team games.
This Red Bull event is held in partnership with Virgin Megastore, Instituto Neymar Jr, Shop and Ship, Hi FM Muscat, Hala FM and Oman Ministry of Tourism.