Ireland to host second international CP football tournament

Ireland is set to host the second international Cerebral Palsy (CP) football tournament of the Paralympic year, with five nations set to face off at the South Dublin Football League Headquarter.

The Dublin Friendship Tournament will bring together a mix of talent levels, from national teams to developmental and junior teams. The tournament begins Thursday (31 March) and runs until Sunday (3 April), with three different competitions.

Hosts Ireland will have three teams in total for the tournament (Republic of Ireland development team, Republic of Ireland talent team and Republic of Ireland mini’s). Teams from Italy, Denmark, England and Northern Ireland will also take part.

Plans for the tournament began last year with the Dublin Friendship Tournament designed to maximise participation from all countries with teams on a development pathway. The tournament will be broken into three sections. First section “mini’s” for players aged between 5 - 12 with the focus to maximise participation and keeping an element of fun to playing football.

Main competition

Competing teams:

* Denmark

* Italy

* England U20

* Republic of Ireland development team

2nd competition

Competing teams:

* Denmark talent team

* Republic of Ireland talent team

* Northern Ireland talent team

3rd competition

Competing teams:

* Republic of Ireland mini's

* Northern Ireland mini's

There will be a talent section (second competition) for children who are entering competitive football with representatives from Denmark, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The main competition will be for development teams who are looking to gain competition experience and take on the International Federation for Cerebral Palsy Football (IFCPF) tournaments in the near future. Italy will be making their debut in a recognised IFCPF tournament.