On the basis of success of the just concluded PEPSI STAR SQUAD 2006 Event in Bahrain, PEPSICO have decided to take the concept further and regionally, thereby, reaching most households in the region. To reach this vast Objective, it was essential to embark on a grassroots ‘street football challenge’ program based on: City, and National Events in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain and then, the Euro Camp at Chelsea Football Club, UK.

As a leading company in sports marketing and events management, AXEM Events Marketing was awarded the creditability of managing the initiative of PEPSI Street Football Challenge 2007 in all 3 GCC countries i.e. Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain. The target of the initiative was to:

·         Identify the best Under-14 year old talents through city and national skill & team competitions.

·         Select best 22 players from three countries

·         Take best 22 players to participate in one month training at Chelsea Camp, UK

Criteria

The event matches were organized on following main criterion:

·         Kids aging less than 14 years were eligible having nationality of respective country i.e. Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain.

·         5-Aside tournament within each city.

·         Maximum of 256 teams per city event for under 14 year old event

·         If above 256 teams, there will not be a parallel skills test program.

·         Event size & skills test was determined after entry deadline.

Rules & Regulations

·         The matches were be played between two teams of 6 players each with one as a reserve player.

·         The match consisted of two 10-15-MINUTE halves without any overtime during the early rounds.

·         However, during the playoffs; games tied at the end of regulation were continued with one, 10-minute sudden victory overtime. In case the score is still tied, the games were decided by penalty kicks.

·         Shirts and shorts were given to each player by the AXEM with numbered vests were given for checkout on-site.

·         AXEM to provide a regulation ball for all matches.

·         The field size was to be 30 meters by 20 meters.

·         Goals were same as those used for field handball.

Event Publicity

With objectives of generating substantial value, creating awareness of the game within the GCC region and to get the most numbers of participants, AXEM in collaboration with PEPSICO drafted a massive event promotion scheme that included door to door flier distribution, Mupi advertisements, Tv ads, and big scale advertisements in prominent newspapers in each country during the entire event.