The Peace Cup was an invitational pre-season friendly football tournament for clubs, held every two years by the Sunmoon Peace Football Foundation.
History The Peace Cup was held every two years, with the Sunmoon Peace Football Foundation inviting football clubs from various nations. A corresponding event featuring women's national teams, the Peace Queen Cup, began in 2006. In October 2012, it was announced that the Peace Cup will no longer be held, following the death of Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon.
Format From 2003 to 2007, the Peace Cup was played between 8 clubs, divided into two groups of 4 teams. The winner of each group qualified for the final, which was played in a single match.
The first three competitions were held in South Korea, and the 2009 version was held in Madrid and Andalusia, Spain with 12 teams participating. The fifth competition took place again in South Korea in July 2012, and four teams which had South Korean players entered.
Participants South Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma participated in every tournament. Previous winners were PSV, Tottenham Hotspur, Lyon, Aston Villa, and Hamburger SV, who were the final champions.
Prize From 2003 to 2007, the prize money of the tournament was approximately €2 million for the winning team, and €500,000 for the runners-up.
Results Finals YearHostChampionsScoreRunners-upClubs2003 PSV Eindhoven1–0 Lyon82005 Tottenham Hotspur3–182007 Lyon1–0 Bolton Wanderers82009 Aston Villa0–0 Juventus122012 Hamburger SV1–0 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma4
Awards The "Golden Ball" was awarded to the best player of the tournament on the basis of a vote among the accredited media. There were also "Silver Ball" and "Bronze Ball" for the second and third best players respectively.
YearGolden BallGolden Shoe 2003 Park Ji-sung Mark van Bommel (2)2005 Robbie Keane Robbie Keane (4)2007 Karim Benzema Kim Källström (2)2009 Ashley Young Hulk (3)2012 Marcus Berg Mitchell Schet (2)
Controversy The original name of the competition was to be Sunmoon Peace Cup, named after the founder. However, after being criticized, the organization changed its name to the World Peace King Cup. Before the inauguration, the Asian Football Confederation warned that the term "world" can only be used by competitions organized by FIFA, and "king" by competitions held by a kingdom.
See also Korea Cup Peace Queen Cup
References