The Nescafe Unileague (minifootball) Championship, on a Pancypriot scale, is the biggest and most popular minifootball event in Cyprus. This championship was born in Greece in 2002 and came to Cyprus in 2008 for the first time.
The Greek and Cypriot Mini Football Association is the Organizing Authority and Libero S&T the official owner of the rights of the championship, as it takes place in Greece too. The company Libero S&T, specializes in the field of sports marketing and events management focusing on the youth target group and Libero S&T is the entity that created the idea of the championship.
The name of the Championship (and also the logo) is linked to the Universities due to a term that exists in Cyprus, as does in Greece, since the beginning of the championship in 2008: Each team has to include a certain number of college / university students. This is something really interesting, because the organizing committee of the tournament managed to 1. maintain a high educational level, 2. keep the level of “fair play” high, 3. preserve the entertaining character of the championship, 4. focus on the development of mini football among the youth and give motivation to the even younger students.
The event takes place with the support of major companies – sponsors, the main /Grand sponsor being Vassos Eliades ltd under the brand of Nescafe from 2008 to now, while it was also supported by many other companies periodically, many of which continue to do so up to the present. For example Red Bull in the sector of energy drink, ΑΙΚ, Joma following Puma and Legea in the sector of official player outfits, Let’s go Amathus Tours, are some of the companies which have entrusted and sponsored the Nescafe Unileague during the last 4 years. Furthermore, a plethora of communication sponsors have undertaken the advertising and promotion of the Institution of the Nescafe Unileague. Indicatively inter alia we mention the radio stations Sport FM, Mix FM, the TV station CyprusSportChannel, the newspaper Sportday, the magazine Sportive, the popular portals www.sport-fm.gcom.cy, www.futsalnews.com , as well as Lighthouse Webdesign & Database Applications, which has undertaken the support of the official website.
The Nescafe Unileague takes place annually from February to May each year in Nicosia and in Limassol, i.e. the 2 major Cypriot cities. The facilities which are chosen are state of the art from all aspects (technological stand point- tartan used etc, security, stands for spectators, other facilities e.g. changing rooms, showers etc), easily accessible by everybody (multiple means of transport).
The Nescafe Unileague at its very essence is clearly a cultural, athletic and social event which embraces thousands of young people who wish to do sport, develop their skills and spirit and all this in the context of pure sportsmanship. The Nescafe Unileague in total is a totally innovative project for Greek standards, ideal for young people who are very much into collective activities.