Walking Football, experts say, is currently the fastest growing sport in the world. At the weekend, in fact, the modality’s ‘World Nations Cup’ will be held in the English town of Derby. A World Cup that will have Basque representation through the Basque Country team. The Basque team will compete in both the +50 and +60 categories.
“Walking Football tries to make it possible to play football at an advanced age with rules that protect our physical integrity while we do healthy sports and socialize with the elderly,” explained Jesus Etxebarria, alma mater and member of one of the two Basque teams attending the World Cup in England to be held from August 24 to 26.
The FIWFA (Federation of International Walking Football Associations) is in charge of organizing this World Cup, which will be held in facilities commonly used by the various English football teams for their preparation. It is not easy to sign up for this tournament which is not only limited and exclusive to countries. In the first edition of the World Cup, in fact, 28 teams representing a total of 18 countries will participate. Georgia was about to enroll, but ultimately was unable to formalize her participation.
Not only this, because the other 40 countries confirmed their interest in registration, but in the end they did not compete because they did not meet the requirements requested by the FIWFA. These are countries like the US, Brazil, Morocco, Germany, Belgium, Croatia, Ukraine, Scotland, Netherlands, Portugal, Chile, Uruguay, Jamaica, Bermuda, Sweden, Hong Kong and Malaysia, among others.
“It is hoped that many of these countries will be in a better position to enter 2025, which will have two more years to develop and organize good governance and organize a national selection process,” said the sponsor of this first edition of the World Cup. specialty.
Spain, rival of the Basque Country
The Basque Country’s over-50 team is in group B with Italy, Nigeria, Singapore, Jersey, Japan and Indonesia. In group A, Spain is included.
The Basque team of +60 years, for its part, will face England, France, South Korea, Japan and Canada.
At 1,300 euros per band
The different parts of the Basque Country team that will participate in this World Cup will have to pay from their own pocket all the costs incurred from registration, travel, hotel and stay. A disbursement of around 1,300 euros per person without any subsidy or federal support, at least for now.
Most of the Basque ‘internationals’ come from the group that trains all year round in Lezama at the hands of the Athletic Foundation. There are also some players who participated in the training sessions taking place in Retuerto and a quartet from the Real Foundation.
These ‘internationals’ have been preparing for two months in the Plentzia facilities and on a separate occasion in Añorga. The Basque team +60, by the way, suffered a last-minute defeat due to the injury of Julián Peinado, an outstanding left-handed winger from Arenas in his youth, who will take on the role of coach.
The adventure of the Basque Country, the Basque team in this event, begins today. hey!
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
