Istanbul sevens
The Istanbul Sevens, also referred to as Istanbul 7s, is Turkey's first big Rugby Sevens Tournament. The tournament will be held on the Annex field of the Istanbul Atatürk Olympic Stadium, in Istanbul, and aims to grow into the stadium itself with the 2011 edition. The 16 teams competing two days to win the Cup and prize money will be selected based on the quality the teams have delivered on other tournaments. The Organizing Committee guarantees hereby that the quality on the field will be on its highest level. By providing high-quality outside the field as well, the Istanbul 7s tournament wants to send the visitors back home knowing that they have experienced an unforgettable weekend.
Aim
The two main reasons why the Istanbul 7s is being organized is to introduce the sport Rugby to Turkish citizens, to whom Rugby is a relative unknown sport, and to introduce Turkish Rugby to the International Rugby Community. The Organizing Committee - led by Özer Ali Önkal and Hasan Akman - aims to achieve their goals by maximizing the media attention by inviting true top-class teams in the Rugby 7s circuit. These top-class teams are National Teams, high class 7s teams of (semi-)professional clubs, and the top Invitational Teams. One of the incentives for these teams to join this tournament is the fair amount of prize money which has been made available for the teams ending in the top three.
This tournament is also being organized to assist the Turkish National Olympic Committee in their quest to host the Summer Olympic Games in Istanbul, whereas the Rugby Sevens has become officially an Olympic Sport per 2016.
The short term aim for each edition of the tournament is to send the visitors home with the feeling that they have experienced an outstanding Rugby tour to Istanbul, by not only providing top-class quality on the field, but also off the field, using all aspects the city of Istanbul can offer. The Organizing Committee works with many companies and organizations in the city of Istanbul, to increase the value of the tournament for all stakeholders.
Location
The Istanbul 7s Tournament will be held at the ANNEX Field of the Istanbul Atatürk Olympic Stadium. As the first edition will be held in 2010, this is the perfect location to hold the inaugural edition: perfectly well maintained green grass field, enough space around it to create a tournament venue, and more than enough parking slots for the ones coming by car. The metro going towards the stadium will be finished around the beginning of 2010 as well, making it easier to travel towards the Istanbul Atatürk Olympic Stadium. Transportation to and from the huge 70,000 seat stadium has been a challenge, as everywhere else in Istanbul. The fact that public transportation will be made available, and the fact that there are not 70,000 people expected at the inaugural edition of the tournament, will assure that transportation will not lead to any issues.
Host Teams
There will be two teams hosting this tournament, which is the Istanbul Ottomans R.F.C. and the Ottomans 7s Invitational Team. The Istanbul Ottomans R.F.C. is the local Rugby Football Club and will bring forward their own players to compete among the best players in the world. This means that the Istanbul Ottomans R.F.C. will be one of the two teams playing under the Turkish flag. The second Turkish team will be invited by the Organizing Committee, and will mostly be depending on the quality the team has given during the National competition. The Ottomans 7s Invitational Team will invite players to play for the team and will therefore play under the flag of the country where the invited players are coming from.