Fußball-WM der Ärzte in Saalfelden Leogang hinterlässt „enormen Mehrwert“

The Doctors' World Cup produced two winners last weekend: while the Czech Republic scored with its doctors on the pitch and was crowned world champion in 2017 after 2015 and 2016, Saalfelden Leogang also impressed as the host region. The pleasing result for the extremely professional organisation of the major event: around 8,000 additional overnight stays were recorded during the World Cup week, more than 30 accommodations in the region were well booked due to the Medical World Cup: "When 1,200 people spend over a week in the region, this is of course of enormous value to tourism. The added value is around one million euros," summarises Marco Pointner, Managing Director of Saalfelden Leogang Touristik.

Saalfelden Leogang scores with nature and naturalness
 
After cosmopolitan cities such as Barcelona, Manchester, Seoul and Los Angeles, the World Medical Football Championships were held in rural areas for the first time this year. The feedback from the participating doctors from 20 nations showed that Saalfelden Leogang was in no way inferior to its predecessors. Away from the football, there was a great supporting programme for the doctors and their families to get to know the region, from the hiking day on the Asitz to the summer Hoagascht on the village square in Leogang. "The mountains, nature and the region's tourist and gastronomic offerings were extremely well received," says Clemens Burgstaller, member of the organising committee. Despite the capricious weather, the organisers created the conditions for first-class doctors' football throughout the entire World Cup week and ensured a very special World Cup atmosphere with sporting expertise and hospitality. "We did everything we could to make the Doctors' World Cup a great sporting event. At this point, a big thank you to all the helpers, without whom the organisation of such a major event would not have been possible," explains Leogang's mayor Sepp Grießner.

 
Sporting highlights and social commitment
 
The "Austrian National Football Doctors' Team" association, which was entrusted with organising the World Medical Championships, also used this event to combine its purpose, namely sport and social commitment. It was undoubtedly the emotional highlight of the atmospheric closing ceremony in the marquee at the Steinberg stadium when club chairman Dr Sepp Grasserbauer presented the mayor of Leogang, Sepp Grießner, and members of the social committee with a donation cheque for € 10,000 for the social project "D`Loigam heut z`samm". "I would also like this donation to be seen as a thank you from the more than 1,000 participants for the warm welcome and outstanding support we have received in Saalfelden Leogang," said Grasserbauer.

Austria in tenth place with only one defeat
 
The Austrian Medical Soccer Team also took part in the competition, securing 10th place on the Pinzgau turf in a comparison of the doctors' strengths. Coach Dr Clemens Burgstaller was pleased with his team's performance: "We played very well, especially in the main competition. We didn't concede any defeats and finished the group matches with two draws and one win. We were unlucky not to finish among the best group runners-up and therefore did not advance to the quarter-finals. A top 10 place is a really great achievement for us," said Burgstaller. The Austrian doctors also want to deliver a great performance next year. The 2018 World Championships will take place in the country of the defending champions, Prague in the Czech Republic.