08 Jan 2021

BSWW and WAFF sign collaboration agreement

The alliance will see development programs and competitions created and reinforced in the West Asia region

Beach Soccer Worldwide and the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) have signed a cooperation agreement to jointly develop beach soccer in the region. 

The General Secretary of WAFF, Khalil Al Salem, and president of BSWW, Joan Cusco, signed a three-year agreement which aims to develop beach soccer in the West Asian region, through the establishment of various activities such as tournaments, workshops, and courses targeting all aspects of beach soccer.

The agreement includes activities such as the integration of beach soccer development agendas within the WAFF football associations, opening new opportunities to WAFF teams to compete at the highest international level, implementation of development programs within the region comprising both infrastructural, training, women’s beach soccer, referees and coaches programs. On top of that, BSWW will also work to provide players from the WAFF region with the opportunity to boost their formation and experience in competitive national championships outside the region. 

Moreover, BSWW and WAFF will also work to have an annual international competition in the region, thus multiplying the exposure and possibilities to compete at the highest level for the teams in the area. 

WAFF General Secretary Khalil Al Salem indicated that WAFF is always keen to expand its base of activities to include all forms of football for both genders. He also considered that the growing interest in beach soccer at the global level prompted WAFF to sign this agreement in order to add beach soccer to its next series of activities, whether through competitive tournaments or administrative work concerning training and developmental activities.

Meanwhile, Al Salem revealed that WAFF was one of the leading regional federations on the continent in terms of its response to holding activities concerned with beach soccer, through its organization of the first WAFF Beach Soccer tournament in 2013 in Iran, with the participation of seven countries: Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar, Iran, Palestine and Iraq.

In turn, BSWW President Joan Cusco outlined the great potential in the region. “The West Asian Region is a place where beach soccer can be strongly established. They have the talent, the resources and the will to turn the area into a prolific beach soccer hotspot, and we are glad to work alongside them to make it happen. Actually, our presence in the region is already very significant, with Dubai, UAE being the host of one of the most prestigious beach soccer competitions in the World, the Intercontinental Cup, and Neom (Saudi Arabia) having hosted also an international competition recently”. 

The coming 2021 season will see the first results of this agreement, which is set to strengthen the presence of the WAFF region in the global beach soccer stage even further.