Organiser: | Monégasque Football Federation |
Website: | Official Site |
Current Champions: | Carabiniers du Prince FC (1st title) |
Most Successful Club: | Sun Casino FC (21 titles) |
Current: | 2023–24 Challenge Prince Rainier III |
The Challenge Prince Rainier III is a domestic football cup in Monaco, featuring teams from across the country. The tournament has been organised annually since 1975 and since then has been known as the premier footballing tournament for amateur teams within the principality.
Because Monaco is not a member of UEFA, there is no qualification for the winners into either the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, or UEFA Conference League.
The tournament was created in 1975 after Prince Rainier III requested a footballing tournament in the country be played.
President of the Organizing Committee, Joseph Destefanis, recalled how the only football game of the year had an air of folklore among the players and of the palace of Monaco. At the time the teams were completed and at the request of Prince Rainier III, the competition has grown.[1]
In the first round of the competition, the teams are placed into groups for a round-robin stage. The best teams from these groups progress to the knockout rounds of the Challenge Prince Rainier III. The lower teams from each group then qualify for the knockout stages of the Trophée Ville de Monaco, the second level cup in Monaco underneath the Challenge Prince Rainier III.[2]
These are the current clubs for the 2023 season:
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Club | Wins | Winning years | |
---|---|---|---|
Sun Casino | 21 | 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 | |
GEM Bâtiment | 5 | 1996, 1997, 1988, 1999, 2001 | |
Ribeiro Frères | 3 | 2004, 2015, 2016 |