○ The largest international drone soccer tournament in history will be held in Songdo, Incheon.
○ The 2024 Korea Drone Expo, hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport under the theme of ‘A World Realized by Drones’, will be held alongside the 2024 International Drone Football Festival, along with drone industry exhibitions, the International Drone Football Federation Congress, drone sports seminars, and the World Drone Light Show.
○ The 2024 International Drone Football Festival, held at the Songdo Convensia Drone Football Stadium, is an international-scale competition with more than 400 players from 20 countries around the world. In Asia, Korea, Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Vietnam; in Europe, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and Turkey; in North America, the United States, Canada, and Mexico; in Latin America, Costa Rica; and in Africa, Morocco.
○ The International Drone Soccer Festival is reportedly one of the largest in terms of participation of overseas teams compared to other sports events. An official from the Korea Drone Football Association said, “In general competitions such as the Olympic and Asian Games, up to thousands of people participate in various competitions and games, but it is rare for so many overseas athletes to participate in a single event such as baseball and basketball.”
○ Drone soccer, which was created in 2017 by Jeonju City and Camtech Institute of Technology, is a new concept leisure sport that converges carbon materials and ICT technology, and currently has more than 2,200 teams in Korea, and is gaining popularity in more than 30 countries around the world.
○ The significant growth of drone soccer overseas is analyzed to be in line with the trend of the 4th Industrial Revolution, and the global promotional marketing strategy that Jeonju City and Camtik Institute of Technology have been working hard on has been effective.
○ In particular, the drone soccer exhibited at ‘CES2024’, a global innovation expo, is considered to have ignited the fire. The drone soccer demonstration match held at the CES Venice Pavilion in Las Vegas in January attracted so much attention that more than 80 global media organizations including CNN, BBC, Reuters, and AFP competed for coverage.
○ Meanwhile, the ‘Drone Soccer Semi-Pro League Founding Ceremony’ will also be held at the 2024 Korea Drone Expo. The Korea Drone Soccer Association will organize eight teams (Phantom, Angel, Thunders, Eater, Griffin, Stars, Challenger, and Phoenix) with the best players from more than 350 clubs in the first division to promote drone soccer. Starting with a tournament in Songdo in May, the teams will travel around the country until December, holding a total of 280 matches.
○ An official from Jeonju City said, “Drone soccer is a future drone leisure sport created by Jeonju, and many people are currently enjoying it because it has the advantage of being able to enjoy anyone of all ages without physical restrictions.” “We hope that this international drone soccer festival will be an opportunity to spread the charm of drone soccer to the world.”
Source: http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=41822
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