Meribel France – At the World Cup Finals the action often gets as exciting off the slopes as on them and this year was no different. For the 5th time in a row, Wednesday night was reserved for the Annual FIS Football Tournament. 10 teams came out to Meribel Mottaret to face each other on two snow-covered football fields. This year The Tournament rules were slightly adapted and the teams faced each other in five-minute matches instead of eight minute ones like in the past. Each match was followed by a two minute break.

Almost 200 players and supporters showed up on the snow-covered football fields to enjoy an evening of fun sports. As in the past editions, the Tournament had been organized by FIS with the support of Infront Sports and Media and the Meribel Organising Committee who worked with sponsors to create a budget which covered the cost of fields, local referees, a speaker and a tent where hot drinks and food were served to the team and supporters.

This year, Team Austria, Infront Service Team, Infront ITA, FIS/FIS Marketing, Switzerland, Nordics, North America and France, who have played in past editions of The Tournament were joined in the tournament by the RSI TV and Picture Brothers teams. Two hours of fun football followed, with the goal to walk away with the 5th World Cup Football Champion. Last year the title went to the Infront Service Team after they defeated Team North America in the Big Final.

After the qualifying rounds, team Nordics and team Infront ITA earned their spots in the Small Final while France played North America in the Big Final. In an exciting battle where until the very last penalty shot it seemed uncertain who would earn the title, Team France proved just slightly more precise than Team North America and walked away with the prestigious globe.

Teams were mainly made of coaches, team staff, technicians, media representatives and people involved with the World Cup family. As every year, a few skiers came out to support their teams – Steven Nyman, Ted Ligety and Marco Sullivan cheered on team North America, Patrick Kueng and Beat Feuz reversed the usual roles and “coached” their coaches from the sidelines. Overall, once again the Football Tournament proved a great success and has grown over the years to one of the most awaited appointments of the World Cup Finals. The crystal cup will be proudly displayed at the French Federation until the 2016 Finals in St. Moritz where the 6th Annual World Cup Football Tournament will take place and a new team might take it home. 

Source: fis-ski.com