Footcoop 2012 is a tournament for the football teams in the three friendship cities Alta, Oulu and Boden in Sweden. However, the event itself is more than just football as it gathers Nordic business leaders to a seminar held on Friday the 17th called FootCoop2012. The seminar aims at building connections across the borders in the northernmost parts of Europe; Cap of the North.
- This is exactly what is needed around here. The whole is a very good opportunity not only for our team, but also for the sponsors and the whole community, to get real cooperation started with Finnish and Swedish parties, says Rune Berger who is head coach of Alta IF”
So far there are no Russian city joining in the event, but the organizers hope they could see some Russian parties joining the seminar and the tournament in the future.
The main focus for the sports and business event is networking. The organizers would like to bring people, clubs and businesses from across the north of the Nordic countries together and to encourage cross-border co-operation, partnerships and networking.
Former Finland, Crystal Palace and Kaiserslautern midfielder Aki Riihilahti is to join a panel discussion at Footcoop 2012, the sports and business event to be held in Oulu on February 27.
Riihilahti joins former Leeds United, Benfica and England striker Brian Deane on the Footcoop programme. Deane played 654 league games in a career spanning three decades, and holds the distinction of scoring the first goal in the FA Premier League. He is now a coach and study counsellor at the International Academy for Football and Education, an innovative programme designed to provide footballers with a bachelor’s degree along with full-time football training and development.
