In 2024, B4 successfully organized the traditional international football tournament for youth categories – Umag Trophy 2024 – for the ninth time in March and April, which took place in three locations – on the football pitches in SC Stella Maris, Katoro, and Bašanija.
In total, 402 teams from 13 countries (Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and Serbia) took part in the tournament. For the first time in its history, the tournament was divided into four dates, running from Thursday to Sunday.
Umag has hosted players from many renowned clubs, including European giants such as Juventus, Barcelona, AC Milan, Crvena Zvezda, Red Bull Salzburg and Hellas Verona. For the first time, we also welcomed strong clubs from the region, such as Hajduk Split, Dinamo Zagreb, Sturm Graz, LASK Linz, and Parma.
More than 40 football referees from Umag, Istria, Kvarner and Slovenia took part in the tournament, officiating more than 1500 matches. In total, more than 6,000 players, coaches and staff took part in the tournament, which was attended by more than 10,000 parents and fans.
During the traditional Umag Trophy 2024, Plava Laguna’s hotels in Umag were fully booked and the event generated more than 40,000 overnight stays. Other parents and supporters have found private accommodation in and around Umag.
This year, we also organized the official opening of the tournament at the Goran Ivanišević ATP Stadium in Umag, which took place at this iconic venue on Thursdays, days before the start of the competition or the first day of the tournament. Visitors could follow the programme live on B4’s Facebook page.
During the tournament, we organised an entertainment programme including live music concerts and fun activities for children. In terms of competition, the tournament has already been taken to the next level with the involvement of the external tournament director, Aleks Štolfa, a long-time UEFA collaborator. A technical briefing for coaches and team managers before the start of the tournament brought the competition closer to top-level sporting competitions.
Umag Trophy 2024 related posts between March 5 and April 21 on B4’s social media channels have:
– reached 682,253 Facebook profiles and 691,865 Instagram profiles,
– recorded 1,641,652 impressions on Instagram
The success of the tournament is due to the support and excellent cooperation with our hosts in Istria, the city of Umag, headed by the Mayor Mr. Vili Bassanese and TZ Umag under the leadership of Director Milovan Popović.
