World Freestyle Football Tournament to go on

LAHORE: The world’s most important freestyle football tournament will not only go on in 2020 – it will be more inclusive than ever.

After over a decade of World Finals in front of crowds on five continents, this Street Style will take the official World Championship of freestyle football entirely online. Anyone can enter by submitting a video clip. Through a series of challenges, the field will be narrowed until the best international men and women – from reigning titleholders to hungry newcomers – turn it up in a live online World Final streamed globally. Entry opens on 18 May 2020.

Freestyle football is the mind-blowing art of performing tricks with a football, and Street Style is the sport’s premier event. The current global situation has seen freestyle soar even higher in popularity, because it can be done individually anywhere, anytime. All you need is a ball.

“This online season could not have come at a better time, and it’s unique: There has never been a freestyle competition on this scale that’s online and open to everyone,” says Steve Elias, President of the World Freestyle Football Association (WFFA). “We’re going to see all the top stars and also discover new faces who never had a chance to enter before. It’s exciting.” The Street Style 2020 is open to everyone across the globe, everywhere, in every single country.

The format has five stages. The first begins when the entry window opens at on 18 May 2020. Everybody from across the planet is invited to submit a video with a 30-second set showing their all-round skills, which will be reviewed by judges selected by the WFFA. Of the thousands expected to enter, only the best – the top 200 men and top 60 women – will advance.

Subsequent stages will serve up specific challenges related to musicality, trick execution, and creativity. With each, the field is whittled further, while the global exposure, including live performances, grows higher.

Finally, 16 men and 8 women will face off in Stage 5, the battle of the online World Final, streamed live worldwide. Launched in 2008, Red Bull Street Style aims to find the best overall freestyle football player in the world. The sport is all about combining out-of-the-box creativity with out-of-the-ordinary skills. The most creative, technical, and stylish player in each gender is crowned Red Bull Street Style World Champion. The elite judging panel has included such legends as Roberto Carlos, Gary Neville, Fabio Cannavaro, Edgar Davids, Luís “Nani” Almeida, and Pável Pardo.