British Gorkha Cup teams to get Rs 50,000 for preparation

KATHMANDU, April 11: All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) on Wednesday announced to provide Rs 50,000 for preparation to all 16 A division teams participating in the British Gorkha Cup to begin from Saturday at the Dasharath Stadium.



ANFA made such announcement during a press conference to brief about the event. [break]



The tournament that is being sponsored by British Gorkha Group and carries the highest cash prize in the knockout tournament -- Rs 1 million to winner and half the amount to runners.



The tournament features top flight teams including newly promoted Sankata Club and Madhyapur Youth Association. The two semifinalists will also be awarded with Rs 100,000 each.



Similarly, 90 percent of the ticket fees raised from each match will be distributed among the competing teams and ANFA on equal basis after deducting expenses and depositing 10 percent to the players welfare fund.   



Speaking at the press conference ANFA General Secretary Dhirendra Pradhan informed that the defending champion Mega Three Star Club and runner up Laxmi Hyundai Manang Marshyangdi Club were given top seeding and pitted in two different groups. In the two editions held so far, Three Star has emerged the champion while MMC the runner up.



Making changes in the previous format of league cum knockout system, all the matches this time will be held on knockout basis. Sankata Club will take on the defending champion Three Star Club in the opener match.



The tournament turned out to be the last one for British Gorkha Group which had struck a three-year sponsorship deal to conduct the tournament with ANFA. However, the group´s coordinator Prakash Thapa said that the group was interested in conducting tournament in future if they did not face any technical problems.



As the chief sponsor, British Group has provided Rs 2 million to conduct the tournament. The estimated cost of the tournament is Rs 4.9 million.



The tournament scheduled to be held last year was stalled citing technical problem. "Due to busy schedule we did not conduct the event last year as we were hosting national and international tournaments," ANFA President Ganesh Thapa clarified.  



The best players will be chosen based on their overall performance and declared the most valuable player who will be awarded with a motorbike. Similarly, best players in four different positions, goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward, and the best coach will be rewarded with cash prize of Rs 50,000 each.   

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