Football: 35 teams in the fray for Masters' 7s title

Thirty five teams are billed to take part in the 15th Annual (Over-40) 7-A-Side Football Tournament conducted by the Sri Lanka Soccer Masters Association (SLSMA), will be worked off on Sunday (13) at Cooray Park, Wellawatte from 8.00am onward. 

All league games will be completed by 2.00pm on November 13. After a brief rest the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals will be worked off from 3.00pm to 5.00pm on the same day. 

The duration of a game will be 15 minutes. 

The Champions will receive a Trophy and Cash Prize of Rs. 75,000/- and Medals while the runner-up team will receive a Trophy and a Cash Prize of Rs. 50,000/-. 

The Most Valuable Player and the Valuable Goalkeeper of the final will receive a Trophy and Cash Prizes of Rs. 7,500/- each. 

The SLSMA has registered 47 teams and all clubs have been issued with SLSMA ID Cards. 

Out of the 47 teams 35 teams have confirmed their participation for this year’s tournament. 

This was revealed at a press conference of the Sri Lanka Soccer Masters Association headed by the immediate past president Desmond Joseph at Campbell Park. 

He said that several former Sri Lanka stars will be taking part in the event. 

"A tournament of this nature is being held after 15 years. The intention is to bring these past players together and display their skills. There are no sponsors but president Tilak Peiris is heading the staging of the competition. Players who starred in the 60s and 65s will be taking part in the event." 

"The first round games will be held on a league basis to give all players the chance to take part in the contest instead of a knockout. All registered players will get the opportunity to take part in the league part of the competition," said Desmond Joseph. 

Desmond also said that they are hoping to make this a South Asian Veterans Tournament in the near future and discussions are being held with this regard with the relevant countries. 

Teams from Colombo, Negombo, Puttalam, Vadamarachchi, Trincomalee, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Ampara, Kurunegala, Badulla,Vavuniya and Panadura will fight it out for this year’s championship. 

The first round matches will be played on a league basis with eight groups and the group champions will qualify to play in the quarter-finals. 

An open draw will be held among the captains of the eight clubs. 

Last year’s winners Kegalle SC and runner-up Old Bens SC will also fight for this year too to regain their positions. 

The Tournament Committee headed by P.G.P. Peiris with the assistance of Clement de Silva, Edward Siva, Ameer Mukthar, Anura Gunasinghe, Mana Sagadevan, Punchi Banda, Rohan Wickramaratne, Yoga Cruz and Tissa Kodituwakku has made all arrangements to conduct this tournament in a colourful manner.