2011 Green Soccer Bowl
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | USA |
| City | Dallas |
| Dates | 26–27 February 2011 |
| Teams | 4 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 0 |
The 2011 Green Soccer Bowl (reported by some media outlets as the Obama Cup[1]) was a proposed association football tournament. Previously, the competition had been scheduled to take place in 2010 but the event was cancelled.
The competition's matches were reportedly to be played at Ford Field, Detroit and Cotton Bowl, Dallas. The two venues are approximately 1,000 miles apart. It had previously been reported that games would be hosted at Pizza Hut Park (erroneously reported as PHP Stadium).[2]
Nigeria Football Federation's media officer Ademola Olajire stated that the competition will be held in honour of U.S. President Barack Obama.[3] The tournament was organised by the U.S. Presidents’ Day Celebration Soccer Invitational Tournament Foundation chaired by former Nigerian international soccer player Pius Oleh, who participated in Nigeria's unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 1990 World Cup.
Nigerian newspapers have also suggested that Malaysia and Bahrain would participate in the tournament[4] whilst the competition's official tournament say that Lebanon and Mexico would participate.
As of July 24, 2010 the groups have been set as:[2]
On February 18, 2011 it was announced the United States Soccer Federation had finally accredited the tournament. However, due to withdrawals from the paucity of gaining entry visas, the field was reduced to only four teams: Nigeria, Mexico's Under 23 team, Panama, and Costa Rica.[5]
- Group A
Nigeria
Mexico U-23
Panama
Costa Rica
On the eve of the matches, the tournament was cancelled after various organizational problems left every team but Nigeria to withdraw.[6]
References
- ↑ "Siasia tasks Eagles ahead of Obama Cup". Supersport. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
- 1 2 "Nigeria invited to U.S. green bowl soccer tournament". 24 July 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ Njoku, Humphrey (24 December 2010). "Eagles to play in Obama invitational". Supersport.com. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ "Eagles for Green Soccer Bowl Tournament". The Punch. 26 December 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ Green Bowl Soccer Tournament gets USSF sanction(KickoffNigeria)
- ↑ Obama Cup cancelled;Nigeria stranded