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Spectacular line-up announced for Amsterdam Tournament 2002

31 March: Ajax.nl has confirmed that, besides hosts Ajax, Manchester United, FC Barcelona and AC Parma have been signed to participate in the fourth edition of the Amsterdam Tournament in the ArenA. The pre-season tournament will take place on 02 and 04 August this year.

In its three years of existence so far, the Amsterdam Tournament has built a reputation a one of the most prestigious pre-season tournaments in the world. Over 210,000 football fans in total attended the previous editions. Last year's edition (August 2001) was televized in more than 100 countries. An estimated 350 million viewers saw Ajax win the tournament, beating Liverpool FC in spectacular fashion (3-1).

The schedule for the 2002 edition:

Friday 02 August 2002:

19:00 CET FC Barcelona vs AC Parma
21:15 CET AJAX vs Manchester United

Sunday 04 August 2002:

18:30 CET Manchester United vs AC Parma AC
20:45 CET AJAX vs FC Barcelona

The Amsterdam Tournament, organized by the International Event Partnership (IEP), has a unique points system: besides the usual one point for a draw and three points for a win, teams also get one point for each goal scored. This encourages offensive football and guarantees that the tournament winner can never be certain before the last game.

This year, the Amsterdam Tournament will be televized in countries such as China, Japan and the United States, announces Ajax.nl. The official Ajax website does not provide any detailed info about the U.S. broadcasts. Ajax USA will announce these details as soon as they're confirmed. (MP)

(Source: Ajax.nl)