Trophée des Champions: partnerships in action
23/07/2011
Wednesday's Trophée des Champions in Tangiers, Morocco, will see several LFP partnerships in action, with the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, the USJF and UNICEF all playing a part in the season-opening showpiece.
Sponsored by UNICEF
For the second year in a row, UNICEF France will be a major partner of the Trophée des Champions. The Lille and OM players will take the field accompanied by children wearing UNICEF t-shirts, and their kit tops will be emblazoned with the UNICEF logo, which will also feature on hoardings around the pitch
UNICEF recognises the fundamental role that sport and physical activity plays in a child's life and regularly partners with sporting events to promote peace and the protection of children, health and education. The fact that the 16th edition of the Trophée des Champions will take place in Africa makes it a particularly suitable event for UNICEF to be involved in, given the number of initiatives in aid of children that the humanitarian body organises and finances on the continent.
Local referees to the fore
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation has designated a home-grown quartet of referees to officiate the 2011 Trophée des Champions clash between Ligue 1-Coupe de France double winners Lille and Coupe de la Ligue winners Marseille.
An international referee since 2008, Bouchaïb El Ahrach will referee the match. At 38 years of age, El Ahrach has had adistinguished career, notably refereeing the final of the UNAF Club Cup in 2010 and the Moroccan Cup final in 2010 as well as the Casablanca derby between WAC and Raja in 2011.
Regularly called upon to officiate AFCON qualifiers and African Champions League fixtures, El Ahrach will be assisted by Redouane Achik and Abdelaziz El Mehraji, both of whom have plied their trade at an international level since 2007. Abdellah Boulifa will be the fourth referee for the match.
Man of the Match with the UJSF
Traditional partner of the Trophée des Champions since 1995, the Union of Sports Journalists in France (UJSF) has organised, since 2005, the election of the Man of the Match. Chosen by all the journalists present in the Media Tribune, the winning player receives his trophy at full time.
The former winners are: John Carew (Olympique Lyonnais - 2005), Jérémy Toulalan (Olympique Lyonnais - 2006), Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyonnais - 2007), Marouane Chamakh (FC Girondins de Bordeaux - 2008), Yoann Gourcuff (FC Girondins de Bordeaux - 2009) and Steve Mandanda (Olympique de Marseille - 2010).
>> Resurgent Lille's African connection