30 August Victory Cup Football Tournament has started.

The inter-neighborhood 30 August Victory Cup Football Tournament organized by Mersin Metropolitan Municipality has started. In the tournament where the final matches will be held on August 30, 42 village teams are competing. Mersin Metropolitan Municipality has organized the traditional ’30 August Fındıkpınarı Victory Cup Football Tournament’ and ’30 August Toroslar Victory Cup Football Tournament’ under the organization of the Directorate of Youth and Sports Services. In the Toroslar tournament, consisting of 3 groups A, B, and C with a total of 18 teams, and in the Fındıkpınarı tournament, consisting of 4 groups A, B, C, and D with a total of 24 teams, the final matches will be played on August 30. The matches in Group A played at the Ayvagediği football field started with the Güzelyayla vs. Çavuşlu match, while in the Fındıkpınarı football field, the first matches of Group A were played between Menteş and Sarılar Sports Club. The final of the tournament, expected to be highly competitive, will see the group winners compete for the super cup. ‘Tournaments become a meeting point for the citizens going to the highlands’ Emrullah Taşkın, the Head of the Directorate of Youth and Sports Services, stated that the tournaments organized by the Metropolitan Municipality every year are followed with great interest by the citizens going to the highlands. Taşkın said, ‘These tournaments become a meeting point for the citizens going to the highlands. They also serve as a place to relieve yearning. Just last year, nearly 60,000 people circulated in Fındıkpınarı alone. We expect a similar number this year in Ayvagediği. We organize the Ayvagediği football tournament with Toroslar Municipality and the Fındıkpınarı football tournament with the Metropolitan Municipality.’ Inviting the people of Mersin to watch the tournament, Taşkın expressed his wish for the tournament matches to be held in a spirit of friendship, peace, and brotherhood. ‘The tournament brings neighborhoods together’ Ayhan Gümeli, the Muhtar of Ayvagediği Neighborhood, stated that the tournament is very competitive every year and is a great event between neighborhoods. Gümeli said, ‘The tournament is a beautiful meeting between neighborhoods. We also introduce our villages.’ Mehmet Süt, the Muhtar of Güzelyayla Neighborhood, emphasized that the tournament brings neighborhoods together. Süt said, ‘In this tournament, we strengthen the friendships of people. It benefits both our tradesmen and villagers. People come to the matches eagerly. It provides a pleasant viewing and entertainment for our villagers.’ Güzelyayla drew 2-2 with Çavuşlu In the match played at the field in Ayvagediği Neighborhood, Güzelyayla and Çavuşlu drew 2-2. Murat Gür, a player from the Güzelyayla team, stated that he has been participating in the tournament since 2010 and said, ‘The matches will be competitive this year. We drew 2-2 with Çavuşlu Sports in our first match. Çavuşlu Sports is also playing well. We lost our match by conceding a last-minute goal. Our goal is the cup. We are a team focused on playing the final match every year.’ Cengizhan Yalçın, a player from Çavuşlu Sports, also expressed that they had a good competition with Güzelyayla and said, ‘Now we will focus on the other matches. We have been participating in the matches for 15-16 years, and we have won 4-5 championships. We are always the favorite here. I congratulate our opponent. It was a good competition.’