The Games, due to be staged between November 30 and December 8, will feature athletes aged between 17 and 28 competing in six sports - beach handball, beach rugby, beach soccer, beach triathlon, beach volleyball and surfing. 

The event will be held in association  with the Brazilian Confederation of University Sports (CBDU).

The concept of Beach Games have been growing in popularity since the first major event was held in 2008.

The Asian Beach Games, originally held in Bali, pioneered the idea and it was taken up around the world, with South America holding its first event in 2009.

The fourth Asian Beach Games is due to take place in Phuket in November, while the third South American edition is scheduled for Pimentel in Peru in December. 

Plans are also well advanced for the World Beach Games to be held in 2017, promoted by SportAccord and the Association of National Olympic Committees. 

The Asian Beach Games pioneered the concept of large scale multi-sport events on the beach ©Getty Images

Maceió, located between Mundaú Lake and the Atlantic Ocean, is largest city of the coastal state Alagoas and topical climate there. 

For team sports there, the first 10 teams to register in each gender category will be accepted, organisers have revealed. 

In surfing 16 athletes in each category are accepted, while for beach triathlon 40 athletes in each category can be registered.

Since the event is taking place in Brazil, quotas are kept for local universities - two per gender category in each team sport, four for surf, and eight in beach triathlon, in each category.

The entries will be accepted by order of arrival until the maximum number is reached with the Organising Committee accepting more than one team per country.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]