Dubai: German giants Borussia Dortmund will play Al Wasl, while Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia will take on Hatta Club in the opening matches of the Sixth Hamdan Bin Mohammad Under-17 International Football Tournament to be held next month.

Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the annual event will be organised at the Dubai Police Officers Club from April 8-17. Real Madrid and Sport Club Internacional of Brazil will be the other two foreign teams participating in the competition, and will be joined by the under-17 teams of four Dubai clubs — Al Nasr, Al Ahli, Al Wasl and Hatta. The teams were classified into two groups at a press conference on Wednesday with Group A consisting of Borussia Dortmund, Al Hilal, Hatta and Al Wasl. Group B will be made up of Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Al Nasr and Al Ahli.

Al Shabab and Dubai Club are the only two teams from Dubai not competing in the tournament after both failed to make it past the qualifying criteria laid down by organisers DSC.

“Last year’s tournament was classified as a three-star event by the DSC classification. This year we want to take a step further and target a better ranking for our tournament,” Ali Omar, Director, Sports Development Department, DSC and Head of the organising committee, told Gulf News.

“Our target is the development of football at grassroots level and this tournament goes a long way in preparing youngsters to take that next step towards professionalism,” he added.

In addition, the DSC organises other age-group competitions for juniors during the course of the year, including a Summer Academics Championships and the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Schools Championships. “The main idea behind these smaller tournaments is to get the young players prepared to play a large number of competitive matches that ultimately culminates with the Hamdan U-17 tournament,” Omar said.

As per the competition regulations, the top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout semi-finals, while the remaining four teams will play for placings.

“Once again, we have varied schools of football participating in this tournament. We have the European style through Dortmund and Real Madrid, the South American flavour through Inter and the Gulf style through Al Hilal. This is a sure way we see our youngsters benefiting,” Ahmad Al Muhairi, tournament director, said.

Emirates, Audi and Dubai Sports Channel are among the major sponsors, while Movenpick Hotel, Caltex and Belhasa Holding are the supporting sponsors for this tournament.

GROUPS

Group A: Borussia Dortmund (Germany); Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia); Al Wasl (UAE); Hatta Club (UAE).

Group B: Real Madrid (Spain); Inter Milan (Italy); Al Nasr (UAE); Al Ahli (UAE).