So while the big finals are being played at the UEFA Euro in July, elsewhere football-loving doctors are taking to the pitch to hunt for goals at their World Cup. This year, Barcelona will host the major event from July 9 to 16, but in July 2017, the doctors will be heading to Austria - to the Saalfelden Leogang region. Around 1000 participants from 24 nations and five continents will then compete for the world championship title.
A strong increase in overnight stays for the region
Saalfelden Leogang joins a list of major cities such as Barcelona, Los Angeles and Seoul in hosting the Doctors' World Cup. In addition to the image factor, the tournament naturally also provides the region with a strong plus in terms of overnight stays. A medical congress is also being held at the same time as the World Cup, so the players, most of whom are traveling with their families, are spending a whole week in the region. "The Doctors' World Cup has always been held in major cities in recent years, so we are all the more delighted that the Saalfelden Leogang region has been commissioned to host this major event," says Leogang's mayor Sepp Grießner. "We were contacted last fall to see if the World Championships would be of interest to us and we then pulled out all the stops to bring the bidding phase to a positive conclusion. The mega-event is particularly interesting from a tourism perspective. The 1000 participating doctors are a high-caliber and well-off audience who will be spending a week here in the region," says a delighted Marco Pointner, Managing Director of Saalfelden Leogang Tourism.
Date: July 8 to 16, 2017
36 teams (24 on large pitches and 12 on small pitches) will play a total of 108 matches in the Saalfelden Leogang region from 8 to 16 July 2017 - a huge organizational effort, according to Grießner: "It is of course a certain challenge for us as a municipality to provide the soccer pitches. But based on our experience with top international teams, I am confident that we will also organize the Doctors' Football World Cup perfectly."
The national teams, consisting of trained doctors, have been meeting at their own World Cup since 2006. The last time the major event took place on Austrian soil, in Innsbruck, was in 2010.
The home World Cup is also a highlight for the hosts of the Austrian national doctors' soccer team, explains trauma surgeon and national team player Clemens Burgstaller from Schwaz: "For many of us, it's the first home World Cup. However, the Doctors' World Cup is not only a major sporting highlight, but also a social event. The idea of further training plays a major role and the collegial aspect is very important to us." Nonetheless, the focus on the pitch is on competition, says Burgstaller, the Doctors' World Cup is anything but a fun tournament: "We have our own rules, two players per team must be over 35 years old and two over 40 to ensure a balance. But otherwise everything is similar to the world football association, even the favorites are the same as in professional soccer, the Spaniards are strong, the Brazilians anyway, and Germany is not to be sneezed at either," grins Burgstaller: "Our goal now is to deliver a good game in Barcelona, to advance to the round of 16 if possible, and to beat the drum for the home World Cup."
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