PANAJI: If football is religion in Goa, the world’s faithful would find no better setting for pilgrimage than this December.

The decennial exposition of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier at Old Goa, will see Christian teams from around the world participate in Expo 2014 Unity World Cup.

At least a couple of World Cuppers from Brazil’s 1998 and 2002 squads are preparing for a trip to India, along with teams from Germany, Portugal, Egypt, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, China and Malaysia. Plans are also afoot to get teams from the Vatican and Spain, St Francis Xavier’s birth place, to confirm their participation latest by this week.

The Expo 2014 Unity World Cup is being organized by John Paul II Foundation For Sport, an ecclesiastical body of the archdiocese. The archdiocese of Goa and Daman is the first to have a sports centre in the country and will organize the tournament from December 5-14 later this year.

“Taking up the exposition theme’s underlying message of unity and seeking to promote it at the All India level, the Goa unit (of John Paul II Foundation For Sport) invited international Church-related football teams to come and celebrate the one faith that unites us into a single family spread across the globe,” archbishop of Goa and Daman, Filipe Neri Ferrao, said in a message.

“I am indeed glad that our diocesan unit of the John Paul II Foundation For Sport has thought of using the medium of football, which is so popular in Goa, to spread the message of unity by proposing to organize the first international invitational football tournament,” said the archbishop.

The exact number of teams participating in the tournament will be confirmed next week. Bangalore and Hyderabad are expected to host the league matches, and should there be 12 teams, and consequently four groups of three teams each, Indore and Kerala will be additional venues.

Goa has been entrusted with the responsibility of hosting the semifinals and final.

Within the pontifical council for the laity, the John Paul II Foundation For Sport was instituted by Pope John Paul II, an avid sportsman who was often referred to as “Athlete Pope” or the “Pope of athletes”.

The Indian squad will be selected after a two-day national championship starting October 31 in Goa. Sixteen states are expected to participate in the tournament, a massive increase from the five who took part last year.

Tamil Nadu are the defending champions, having defeated Kerala in last year’s final.

“This is for the first time that a football tournament of such stature is being organized so that the impact of the exposition goes far beyond the precincts of Old Goa,” said an official involved in the organization of the tournament.

Two years ago, John Paul II Foundation For Sport had invited Korean club Hallelujah FC to India for a couple of friendlies in Goa, Bangalore and Kerala.

Founded in 1980 for Christian missionary work, Hallelujah FC was the first ever professional football club started in South Korea and won the inaugural K-League title. The practice of all players religiously kneeling down to thank God after a goal was scored, half-time and end of play, was the most striking feature of the visitors’ game. The next edition of the Unity World Cup will be hosted by Colombia in 2016.

