TORONTO, May 8, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- A group of soccer enthusiasts representing the legal and financial community in Toronto has been training 3-5 days per week for the past 5 months in preparation for Mundiavocat 2006. The Toronto Mundiavocat team, the city's first-time entry in the 26-year-old Mundiavocat (Lawyer's World Cup of Soccer), will be in Antalya, Turkey from May 19-29, 2006 to meet with and compete against fellow lawyers from around the world in an effort to gain biennial global bragging rights. A festival of soccer in a very important year for global football with the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany nearing kick-off, Mundiavocat 2006 will feature more than 60 teams from 42 countries.
How do a group of Toronto lawyers stack up against their international colleagues in the world's most popular and passionate pastime? "Well, if the tournament were about hockey then the answer would be very clear," says organizer Michael Weinczok, a corporate law partner and restructuring specialist with the Toronto office of Ogilvy Renault LLP. Locating Toronto based lawyers who sub-specialise in high quality "footie" has proven very difficult. But, as the old saying goes, if something needs doing give it to a busy person to get done. "All of the guys live extremely demanding professional and personal lives but have dedicated a huge amount of time and effort into ensuring that our team will be firing on all cylinders," Weinczok notes, but "through very hard work we have set the groundwork for ongoing participation of the Toronto team in future Mundiavocat tournaments and hope to educate everyone about the quality of Canadian soccer."
Toronto Mundiavocat, led by Coach Stephen Maio (a former captain of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish varsity soccer team), Co-Captains Matthew Duffy & Ned Jeric and organizers Andrew Salem & Michael Weinczok, has been fortunate to enjoy the generous support of numerous sponsors. "It is only through the generosity, vision and commitment of our sponsors," explains Duffy, "that we are poised to ensure Toronto's inaugural participation is successful."
Lead sponsors of Toronto Mundiavocat 2006 are Ogilvy Renault LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP and TD Waterhouse. Supporting sponsors are Torys LLP, Hughes Amys LLP, Manulife Financial, Davis & Company, the Toronto Athletic Club, mymyrkassociates.ca and Cedar Infrastructure Products Inc. A final sponsor is Coffee Time, a long time patron of soccer in Toronto and Canada.
The team would also like to acknowledge the support and encouragement of their firms and employers -- Ted Maduri (Davis & Company), Peter Laframboise (TD Meloche Monnex), Brad Lawson (Osgoode Hall Law School), Andrew Salem (Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP), Rick Lamanna (Hughes Amys LLP), Marcus Christmann (JP Morgan), Mark Joseph (Malo, Pilley & Lehman), David Cowling (Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP), Michael Kelly (Manulife Financial), Stephen Maio (City of Mississauga), Matthew Duffy (Dutton Brock LLP), Ned Jeric (TD Waterhouse), Lee Clark (Torys LLP), Rael Levy (Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP) and Mike Weinczok (Ogilvy Renault LLP).
For more information about the Mundiavocat tournament visit www.mundiavocat.com or call Michael Weinczok at 416-526-7231