Adidas Lightning Football kicks off in Iloilo

Adidas, together with Zed and Hotel Intercontinental Manila, will stage the Adidas Lightning Football beginning June 6, with Iloilo City serving as its first provincial leg in the Visayas.

"The staging of the Adidas Lightning Football is part of Adidas’ enduring undertaking to further the grassroots development of the sport. As always, with this event, we hope to discover and cultivate untapped talents particularly in the provinces, bring them to the fore and eventually bolster the country’s football program," said John Alonte, president and managing director of Adidas.

The tournament is divided into three competitive levels: the Under-15 (for players below 15 years old), the Under-19 (for those below 19 years old), and the 20-Open (for those 20 years and above).

Ten teams will play in each level. They will be divided into two groups of five teams, with the teams in each group to figure in a single round-robin format. The team that comes out on top in each level per provincial leg then qualifies to the National Finals slated on June 30 at the Ateneo de Manila University football grounds.

After Dumaguete, Adidas Lightning Football action goes to the North for the Luzon leg, hailed as the Chris Monfort Festival set on June 8-9, 2002 at the Ateneo de Manila University football grounds.

The second of the Visayas legs will be held on June 15, 2002, when the intense football clashes transfer to Bacolod City.

The Mindanao legs happen on June 11, 2002 in Cagayan de Oro City and on June 22, 2002 in Davao City.<