image captionOrganizers say the tournament is worth more than £6m to the local economy
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The organizers of Northern Ireland’s leading youth football tournament have said the decision to reject Tourism NI’s funding bid for a second year is “baffling”.
The 2024 O’Neill’s Foyle Cup will see more than 700 clubs compete across the North West in July.
Liverpool FC’s rising academy star Trent Corn-Doherty described it as “the best tournament” for local players.
Tourism NI said the £30,000 application did not achieve the required ranking for funding to be allocated to the event.
Foyle Cup secretary general Philip Devlin said he did not believe tourism organizations understood the value of the tournament.
image captionTourism Authority NI said applications for the tournament failed to achieve the required rankings
Mr Devlin told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West programme: “Over 13,000 competitors, 200,000 spectators, 14,000 beds and over £6m and £8m of economic investment. “When I thought about it, I felt that the conditions to receive the funds were fully met.” Today’s program.
“I am disappointed and embarrassed to hear that my funding application has been rejected,” he added.
The Foil Cup has previously successfully applied for funding from Tourism NI.
Devlin said this year’s event will still go ahead.
Any funding shortfall will be met through private sponsorship and the resources of the Foyle Cup’s governing body, Derry and District Football Association.
image captionOxford Bulls, a football team made up of children with Down syndrome, competed in the 2019 tournament
The first Foyle Cup began in 1992 with just eight men’s teams participating.
This year, 730 clubs entered, including approximately 140 women’s teams. Young players from the UK, Ireland, Europe, China and North America compete for soccer glory.
Future international players such as James McLean, Niall McGinn, Seamus Coleman, Robbie Keane and John O’Shea have all played in tournaments in their youth.
Liverpool’s Trent Cone-Doherty started this year’s tournament in Derry last week.
He played in tournaments with the Foyle Harps team as a boy.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Liverpool’s Trent Cone-Doherty said the Foyle Cup allows young players to showcase their skills.
The 17-year-old said it was a great opportunity for young people to showcase their talents.
“This tournament is huge for young players. If they do well, a lot of clubs will come to watch and it will be a good opportunity for everyone to get noticed,” he said.
Mr Devlin said he planned to meet with Tourism NI in the coming days to discuss why the application had been rejected.
Tourism NI said in a statement that the event had applied for funding through the International Tourism Events Funding Scheme.
“This is a competitive process as the applications received by Tourism NI always exceed the budget available in the scheme,” Tourism NI said.
It added: “The plan is based on the principle of promoting additional tourism benefits that cannot be achieved without the financial support sought.
“Unfortunately, on this occasion, the applications submitted to the Foyle Cup were not able to achieve the required ranking for the funding allocated to the event.”
SDLP MLA for Foyle Mark H. Durcan said he and Economy Minister Conor Murphy had raised the funding figure.
Mr Durcan told BBC Radio Foyle: “My view is that the funding will help us grow and help us become more international.”
“It’s bigger than politics. The Foyle Cup is a great celebration of football,” he said.
