The 6th “Qiaoxin Cup” Juvenile Football Invitational Tournament Kicks Off in Longhui, Shaoyang

China Morning Newspaper (Chief Reporter Tao Yue, Special Correspondents Yang Lijun, Correspondents Chen Yi, Chen Bin) - On the morning of July 22, the 6th "Qiaoxin Cup" Juvenile Football Invitational Tournament opened in Xiangjia Village, Yankou Town, Longhui County, Shaoyang City, Hunan Province. A total of 32 teams from home and abroad will compete on the cloud-based green field over a period of 6 days. Chen Mai, Secretary-General and Director of the General Office of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, announced the opening of the tournament, and Yin Yuanyuan, Director of the China Overseas Chinese Public Welfare Foundation, attended the event. Sun Minsheng, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Chairman of the Hunan Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, and Yan Hua, Secretary of the Shaoyang Municipal Party Committee, delivered speeches respectively.

In his speech, Sun Minsheng said that football carries dreams, and the hearts of overseas Chinese connect the world. He hoped that Shaoyang would take the tournament as a medium, making the green field in Xiangjia Village a window to showcase Hunan's style and a stage to display China's charm. He also expected young players to make friends through football, gain growth and friendship, and feel the joy of football. He warmly welcomed overseas Chinese to often return to their hometowns to witness the great changes, share development opportunities, and continue to contribute wisdom and strength to Hunan's reform and development. The Hunan Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese will work with all parties to act as good "waiters", presenting a "simple, safe and wonderful" football event, making the tournament a bright business card for uniting overseas Chinese hearts and promoting Hunan, and contributing to building a strong sports country with the strength of overseas Chinese circles.

On behalf of the Shaoyang Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, Yan Hua extended a welcome to the guests and participating teams from afar, and expressed gratitude to people from all walks of life who care about and support Shaoyang's development. He stated that the "Qiaoxin Cup" is not only a sports event but also a bond promoting exchanges between overseas Chinese at home and abroad. Shaoyang will adhere to building dreams through football, take hosting the "Qiaoxin Cup" as an important starting point to promote the development of cultural and sports undertakings and industries, strive to build the "Juvenile Village Super League" brand, and create an exchange platform for young football players. It will also adhere to building bridges through overseas Chinese, actively carry out the "return of overseas Chinese capital, wisdom and technology" initiative, and build bridges for communication and cooperation. Besides, it will adhere to using the tournament as a medium, give play to the advantages of cultural and tourism resources, accelerate the integrated development of culture and tourism, and let guests from all parties experience the beauty of Shaoyang's culture and tourism.

With the theme of "Overseas Chinese Hearts Build Dreams, Football Shines the Future", this tournament is guided by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and hosted by the China Overseas Chinese Public Welfare Foundation, Hunan Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, Hunan Provincial Sports Bureau and Shaoyang Municipal Government. It is the second consecutive year that the tournament has been held in Shaoyang, and it is the first time to implement the "domestic + international" dual competition linkage, with the scale reaching a record high in previous editions. Among them, the domestic competition is divided into two stages: grading matches and ranking matches. A total of 24 U9 juvenile teams with 288 players from across the country will compete in the 7-a-side field. The international competition has invited U13 teams from 6 countries including Spain, Japan, Kenya, Uzbekistan, Thailand and Vietnam, to compete with 2 domestic powerful teams from Beijing and Hunan in the 11-a-side field, marking that the tournament is developing from a national brand event to an international one.

At the opening ceremony, local characteristic programs were staged one after another, presenting a visual feast for the audience. Subsequently, the opening match of the international competition was held between the Hunan Youth Training Center Football Team and the Spain Huesca International Team.