The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) confirmed in December that the first ever edition of the event will be held this year in Costa Rica between November 2 and 5.

"After seeing how well organised the IFAF is, we want to be part of all events that the organisation might have," Bolanos said.

"Having the opportunity to host the first World Beach Football Championship was a dream come true.

"Costa Rica has beautiful beaches and is a country full of amazing things so every person that will come to a football event will fall in love.

"Applying and giving a great proposal was the idea and we will show that Costa Rica has the perfect environment to host the event.

"Also, we knew that if we get to host this event we will bring and create a stronger view of the practice of beach football for Costa Rica and for the area."

The decision was made by the IFAF Managing Committee, following a bidding process in November.

The event will take place in Tamarindo, a town and district located on the Nicoya Peninsula on the Northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, in the Province of Guanacaste.

Teams will compete in three categories: men, women and mixed.

All teams will play four against four with a playing time of two 15 minute periods.

Interested countries are eligible to apply to play until May 31.

Beach flag football is a relative newcomer to the official IFAF competition calendar.

To date, competitions in the discipline have been organised at the 2014 Asian Beach Games in Phuket in Thailand and at the 2014 European Championship of American football in Italian city Grosseto.

Flag football is a version of American football where the basic rules are similar to those of the mainstream game, but instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier to end a down.