Beach Soccer: Tri-Nation National Day Tournament |24 June 2023

Mr Chetty officially launching the tournament (Photo: Roland Duval)

Bringing unity through a nationwide celebration

The National Day tri-nation tournament, bringing together eight selections from Seychelles, Madagascar and Burundi kicked-off last night at the Roche Caïman Beach Soccer Arena.

The tournament, part of the activities on the National Day calendar, was officially launched by the president of the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) Elvis Chetty, in the presence of vice-president Dolor Ernesta, chief executive Denis Rose, along with executive committee members.

For the tournament, the Seychelles national selection have been divided into two teams – Seychelles White and Seychelles Blue –, while the other four local representatives – Sand Warriors, Classic 15, Lost Boys and U20 –  are made up of players selected from different beach soccer competitions, including the recently-held first Guinness Football Night.

As for the foreign squads, they are the Burundi national selection, along with the Barea, a selection of Malagasy players currently playing in the local leagues.

Launching the event, Mr Chetty said the SFF attaches great importance to its beach football programme, especially now that the country has won the bid to host the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) Beach Soccer World Cup in 2025.

He said the tournament also forms part of our national team’s preparation for the 2025 rendez-vous when Seychelles will be the centre of attention of the world’s beach soccer fraternity.

The tournament’s inaugural match was between Seychelles White and Sand Warriors, with the latter winning 4-3.

Also on yesterday’s fixtures, Burundi played against Seychelles Blue, while Barea played against U-20.

In the last match of the day, Classic 15 were up against Lost Boys.

Roland Duval