Spain's famous La Manga Club has accepted a new worldwide brief after being handed the honour of hosting the 2016 Mundiavocat next year – football's World Cup for lawyers across the globe.

More than 80 teams of lawyers, bar associations and law firms from five continents are set to head to Europe's premier sports and lifestyle destination resort next spring to compete in the 18th edition of the prestigious biennial international tournament, exclusively for the world's legal profession.

Taking place from May 13-22, 2016, around 2,000 lawyers are poised to take part in the 2016 Mundiavocat at La Manga Club – and experience the same world-class football facilities used by a host of the game's biggest names including FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool.

The last Mundiavocat in Budapest, Hungary, brought together 74 teams from 30 different countries in Europe, America, Asia and Africa, and the 2016 version is predicted to be bigger than ever before with the introduction of a new five-a-side competition at La Manga Club.

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 the 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.

Vincent Pinatel, the French founder of Mundiavocat, said: "We are honoured that the 18th edition of Mundiavocat is going to be taking place at La Manga Club in the Region of Murcia. It is a beautiful place and teams will find everything they need there for a great stay: fantastic football facilities, beaches, bars, restaurants, and different activities available day and night.

"We're very excited about the event and are looking forward to welcoming everyone to Spain next spring to live the incredible experience of Mundiavocat."

Jose Asenjo, La Manga Club's general manager said: “Everyone at La Manga Club is delighted to that we have been selected to host such a high-profile global competition. Our range of five-star football facilities and other amenities makes the resort the perfect destination to stage large-scale tournaments of this nature and we're relishing the chance to showcase what we have to offer.”

Boasting eight international-standard grass pitches, La Manga Club's extensive facilities has made it a popular destination for some of the world's football and sporting elite and, in the last 12 months alone, the resort has played host to more than 150 professional teams and around 500 scouts through a range of training breaks, pre-season tournaments and friendly matches.

In addition, the award-winning venue embarked on a new path at the start of this year after becoming the first resort in the world to open a High Performance Football Centre, offering professionals the chance to sign up to one of its new comprehensive, fully residential programmes to help showcase their skills and further their careers.

Open to footballers of all nationalities, players training at the La Manga Club High Performance Football Centre are coached, mentored and looked after by the resort's team of experts including UEFA-qualified coaches, professional sport and exercise scientists, physiotherapists, nutritionists and football analysts to help them reach their full potential.

Widely regarded as Spain's flagship resort, La Manga Club has been at the forefront of sports and leisure destinations in Europe for more than four decades.

Set in an area three times the size of Monaco, the resort boasts unrivalled facilities as a sport and leisure venue including three 18-hole championship 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 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 http://goo.gl/uOtE2Y

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