End of the line for Korea’s Peace Cup

Leading pre-season competition the Peace Cup has been scrapped following the death of Sun Myung Moon, the founder of its organiser the Unification Church.

The South Korean religious movement has organised the tournament every two years since its founding in 2003, however it has been staged at a financial loss. South Korea has hosted every edition of the tournament, apart from the 2009 event in Spain, and it has drawn European giants such as Real Madrid and Juventus in the past.

However, church spokesman Ahn Ho-Yeol told AFP the decision to discontinue the tournament was in line with the church’s efforts “to focus on its internal stability and missionary work”. The news agency reports that questions have been raised over the future of the Unification Church following Moon’s death in September at the age of 92.

The most recent edition of the Peace Cup was staged in July and attracted 1.Bundesliga club Hamburg SV, along with English Premier League outfit Sunderland, Dutch Eredivisie team FC Groningen and host club Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. Hamburg defeated its host 1-0 in the final.