Coca-Cola Cup 2017 – Tbilisi Finals at "Basa"

Final games of the Tbilisi leg of Coca-Cola Cup 2017 took place at the Georgian Football Federation’s technical centre ‘Basa’ today. Matches were played from the early morning, with teams from 147th State School and 23rd State School facing each other in the day’s final game of the boys’ competition. The prize at stake was the right advance to the next stage of the tournament, which is to take place in Kvariati from 13 June. The match finished in a 2-2 draw, with the 147th State School side emerging victorious in the penalty shootout (3-2). In the girls’ tournament, the 152nd State School team defeated their counterparts from 168th State School, thereby also gaining the ticket to Kvariati. Along with 147th State School, Tbilisi will be represented at the boys’ tournament in Kvariati by the teams from 146th, 10th, 55th and 195th State Schools.

Prior to today’s final game, participants and fans were addressed by the Georgian Football Federation president Levan Kobiashvili, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Tariel Khechikashvili, as well as the president of Coca-Cola Georgia, Temur Chkonia. They emphasised the importance of the Coca-Cola Cup for popularisation of healthy lifestyle and development of grassroots football in Georgia. Mr. Chkonia spoke about future plans for the tournament and stated that cooperation with GFF has ensured that the tournament will become international from next years, with Georgian youngsters getting the chance to compete against their counterparts from abroad. The final match was followed by the award ceremony. Teams received their prizes from Levan Kobiashvili, Tariel Khechikashvili and Temur Chkonia. Afterwards, players and fans had the opportunity to take photos with the European Under-19 European Championship trophy.

Participants at the Coca-Cola Cup included teams from every part of Tbilisi. Boys’ teams were composed of players born in 2003-2004, while girls’ teams were composed of players born in 2002-2004. Five boys’ teams and one girls’ team advanced to the final tournament in Kvariati, where they will compete against the strongest sides from other Georgian regions. 10 000 children from over 1000 schools across Georgia took part in the Coca-Cola Cup last year, while this year, the number of players grew to 16 000.