While the countdown continues to Euro 2016 in June, the biggest football tournament of the summer is set to take place at Spain's La Manga Club a month earlier with a record number of countries, teams and competitors poised to compete in the 2016 Mundiavocat – football's World Cup for lawyers.

Around 75 teams of lawyers, bar associations and law firms from across the globe have already signed up to play in the 18th edition of the prestigious biennial international tournament, exclusively for the world's legal profession, which will be held at La Manga Club in Murcia, south-east Spain, from May 13-22.

Teams from Algeria, France and Portugal became the latest to enter this month, taking the number of countries being represented to 30, and with seven weeks still to go until the global football extravaganza kicks off, organisers are confident that this year's tournament will beat the previous best tally of 35 set in 2008.

Taking place at La Manga Club for the first time in its history, around 100 teams and more than 2,000 players from five continents are expected to participate in the 2016 Mundiavocat– and experience the same world-class football facilities used by a host of football's biggest names including FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and, most recently, Newcastle United last month.

The event, which was first held in Morocco in 1983, will be divided into four tournaments: the Classic Tournament, with teams with no age limits; the Master Tournament, featuring players aged over 35, the Legend Tournament, which is open to players aged 45-plus, and a new Five-a-Side Tournament, making its championship debut and available to players of all ages.

Each team will play five to seven games during the eight-day event, with all matches supervised by Spanish and international referees, with competitors also enjoying accommodation in La Manga Club's array of four and five-star accommodation, opening and closing ceremonies, a cocktail party and festive events throughout the week.

Chad Harpur, director of sport at La Manga Club, said: “Everyone at the resort is very excited about hosting Mundiavocat for the first time and it will be the biggest event ever in our history. La Manga Club is the perfect destination for tournaments of this size and nature and it's fantastic news that the event is on course to be the biggest ever in the competition's history.”

With extensive facilities including eight FIFA-approved grass pitches, La Manga Club has made a name for itself as a first-choice destination for a football training break.

Set in 1,400 acres, the resort is also the official overseas training base of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and boasts unrivalled facilities as a sports and leisure destination including three 18-hole golf courses, a 28-court tennis centre and a 2,000sqm spa and fitness centre. It also offers the choice of a five-star hotel, four-star serviced apartments and townhouses and more than 20 bars and restaurants.

For more information about the 2016 Mundiavocat and to register, please visit www.mundiavocat.com 

For further details about La Manga Club, visit www.lamangaclub.com.

ENDS

Information for journalists

Press release written and distributed on behalf of La Manga Club by the Azalea Group.

La Manga Club
La Manga Club – www.lamangaclub.com – is an unrivalled sports and leisure paradise which sits between the low hills that separate the Mediterranean from the Mar Menor Sea, just 20 minutes from Murcia airport and an hour from Alicante.

Set out over an area of some 560 hectares (approx. 1,400 acres), it enjoys a mild year-round Mediterranean climate and offers visitors a prestigious five-star hotel, luxury vacation apartments and extensive sports facilities, including three championship golf courses, a new Leadbetter Golf Academy – the only one in mainland Spain – a 28-court tennis centre and eight grass sports pitches. The resort is also home to innumerable leisure facilities, such as the 2,000m2 Spa La Manga Club with its 13 luxurious treatment rooms, comprehensive fitness centre and 25m indoor swimming pool; meeting, banqueting and incentive facilities, and more than 20 restaurants and bars.

As well as hosting both Davis and Fed Cup tennis matches, La Manga Club has signed a long-term deal to be the overseas training resort of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) until 2016. It has also staged the Spanish Open golf championship and regularly attracts professional and international football teams to the first-class year-round training facilities which are also used by rugby and cricket sides.

As a result of more than 40 years of continued investment, innovation and commitment to excellence, La Manga Club is widely recognised as Spain's flagship resort and as one of the finest sports and lifestyle destinations in the world. Evidence of this is provided by its numerous awards and accolades.

La Manga Club was the proud recipient of a 2013 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel website, for the facilities and service on offer at its five-star Hotel Principe Felipe. The resort has been voted 'Best Golf Hotel/Resort in Spain' by UK readers of Today's Golfer magazine for the last four years and was named 'Best Golf Hotel in Spain' at the 2014 and 2015 World Golf Awards. La Manga Club has long been a staunch supporter of women's golf, being the official overseas resort partner of the English Women's Golf Association for three years as well as hosting the Ladies European Tour (LET) Qualifying School from 2009-12. La Manga Club is also the venue for the Ladies Murcia Open, an LET Access Series event, and regularly hosts top women's amateur events and teams.

• High-resolution images of La Manga Club may be downloaded for editorial purposes from https://goo.gl/oi837y 

For more information on La Manga Club contact Pete Simm on 01730 711920 or email petes@theazaleagroup.com