The third annual Fruta Conquerors Football Club organized Namilco Football Festival was officially launched in the boardroom of the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) yesterday and will kick off with a double header at the Tucville playfield on Friday.
Present at the launching was CEO of the company Bert Sukhai, Operations Manager Ralph Hemsingh, executives of the Fruta Conquerors Club and representatives of the various participating clubs.
Sukhai stated that the company, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, is proud to be associated with the Fruta Conquerors Club.
He said, “Marlan Cole (club president) indicated to me that he will not be present for this year’s tournament but I (Sukhai) still hope that the tournament can be run better than last year even in his absence.”
“Since our partnership with the club, we have seen tangible evidence of how the support they have received through sponsorship has been spent to develop the facilities around the ground (Tucville),” he observed.
In concluding his brief remarks, Sukhai expressed the hope that this tournament would be fiercely contested, adding that his company will continue supporting football.
Hemsingh in his remarks expressed satisfaction that the company was involved in sponsoring the tournament.
“We attended the tournament last year, we liked it and it’s nice to see the advancement around the ground and indeed we are looking forward to continued improvement,” Hemsingh said.
Nine teams from Georgetown, four teams from the East Coast of Demerara and one team each from Berbice, Linden and West Demerara will clash in the knockout format tournament for the NAMILCO Trophy and the top prize of $500,000.
The second place finisher will be awarded $200,000 while third and fourth place teams will have to settle for $100,000 and $50,000 respectively. Individual prizes such as Highest Goal Scorer, Best Goal Keeper and Most Valuable Player are also up for grabs.
Defending champions, Alpha United, have signaled that they will be absent from the tournament this year which means that a new champion will be crowned at the conclusion of the eight-day event.
The teams invited to participate in this tournament include Sunburst Camptown, Uprising, Pele, Bakewell Buxton Stars, New Amsterdam United, Beterverwagting Triumph, BK International Western Tigers, Fruta conquerors, Georgetown Football Club, Seawall FC, Victoria Kings, Santos, Bakewell Top XX, Buxton United and Flamingo who have replaced Alpha United.
