Ten out of the sixteen teams are prominent European-based clubs, led by defending champions Manchester United that narrowly beat Juventus of Italy 1-0 in last year's final at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
The teams participating include Chelsea (England), Juventus (Italy), AC Milan (Italy), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Ajax (Holland), PSV Eindhoven (Holland), Olympique Lyonnais (France) and FC Porto (Portugal).
The other teams are two South American clubs, Flamengo (Brazil) and River Plate (Argentina) and the national squads of four Asian countries -- Qatar, India, Malaysia and Japan, which has yet to confirm its participation.
Gifted Group chairman Jonathan Price said the 16 teams would be divided into four groups and only two top teams in each group would qualify for the quarter-finals.
All group and quarter-final matches will be held at several state stadiums, while the semi-final and final matches will be played in Kuala Lumpur.
Price said Gifted Group, in cooperation with the Youth and Sports Ministry, Education Ministry and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), would hold 28 coaching clinics, providing 200 youngsters the opportunity to train and learn from selected professional players plying their trade with the world's biggest clubs.
Besides that, Price said Ajax's youth academy, a world-renowned football training centre for turning talented young players into top footballers, would work closely with FAM, the National Sports Council and Education Ministry to draw up a special football curriculum and operational infrastructure for state football schools for under-17 and under-14 players.
"The Ajax academy will also conduct two-week training camps for Malaysian under-16 and under-14 talents as well as coaching of coaches and goalkeepers," he said, adding that two Malaysian footballers, Bunyamin Omar and Badrul Baktiar, would have a two-week stint with Chelsea next month.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Deputy Minister Wee Jeck Seng said his ministry fully supported the CYC as it created grassroot football development programmes."
-- BERNAMA
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