The international tournament series FC Bayern Youth Cup was crowned best promotion programme in youth sport in Thailand.
The German record champions received the accolade at this year's SPIA Asia Summit in Bangkok, one of Asia's biggest sports industry conferences. Bayern legend Klaus Augenthaler accepted the award on behalf of the club.
"I'm very happy to accept the award for the best promotion programme in youth sport in Thailand after we finished third last year. This sustainability is reflected in our success in Thailand. Five players of last year's Youth Cup team Thailand have been called up for Thailand's national youth teams so far. We're on a very good track, and we'll continue to support Thai football," the 1990 world champion said.
The concept of the FC Bayern Youth Cup, which has been staged in Thailand annually since 2014, convinced the jury. A total of almost 3,500 young players from across Thailand contested nine tournaments in seven different cities from January to March 2018. The national final featuring the best players, picked by Thai coaches trained by FC Bayern, was staged in Bangkok under the auspices of FC Bayern ambassador Bixente Lizarazu. The ten best players picked by the former full-back contested the FC Bayern Youth Cup World Final at Munich's Allianz Arena in May. Team Thailand turned in a strong performance and retained their crown, the first Asian team to defend the title.
The FC Bayern Youth Cup Thailand has been staged in cooperation with partner Sport Thai Bavaria (STB) / Wangkanai since 2016. The annual tournaments and the national final have become the main scouting events in Thai football. FC Bayern not only support children and youths but also train coaches in Bangkok and Munich on a regular basis.
Outstanding projects, initiatives and participation in Asian sports have been awarded in different categories at the SPIA Asia (Asia's Sports Industry Awards & Conference) for years. This year there were more than 400 official applications from 47 countries for a total of 21 categories for Asia, including four for Thailand.
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