Recently it was announced that popular group EXILE are going to hold a second futsal (indoor 5-man football) tournament called, "EXILE CUP 2011 ~ Nippon wo Genki ni ~", for children this summer.

It is the second time that they will organize such an event, and the simple cause is to see the smiles of all those children during a fun sport event, especially after everything that happened this year. Everyone from the 4th to 6th grade of primary school are allowed to participate in the tournament.

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The preliminary rounds will start in July and will be held in six prefectures of Japan: Osaka, Tokyo, Fukuoka, Aichi, Miyagi, and Hokkaido. The finals will take place in Furano, Hokkaido on August 20th. The winner from each prefecture will advance into the finals, except for the prefecture of Miyagi, one of the most severely hit region during the earthquake and the following tsunamis. For this prefecture, the top 3 teams will be able to advance into the finals, making it a total of eight finalists.

EXILE's USA also was chosen as the special supporter this year, while Okada Takeshi, the head coach of the Japanese national football team, will take the role of a special advisor for the children.

USA commented, "Okada and I want to support all the players and we will try to visit as many preliminary matches as possible."

Teams can enter the tournament by filling out a form on the official website of the "EXILE CUP".

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Source: Sanspo