Football: FFSL President’s Cup 2020 set for kick-off on August 9

The FFSL President’s Cup 2020 invitation tournament is set for kick-off on August 9 with the participation of 20 teams.

It will be a rehearsal for the planned semiprofessional Super League competition scheduled to begin in November and also serve as an opportunity to scout for new talent for the national team, according to the President of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) Anura de Silva.

“Our primary objective is to revive football in the country battered by the Easter Sunday attacks and bad weather last year followed unfortunately by the coronavirus pandemic. We were to kick start a return to football on July 26 but unfortunately a spike in the coronavirus cases caused another delay to the start of the tournament. But we are now ready to start the tournament on August 9 with the final scheduled to be held on August 31,” FFSL President Anura de Silva said at the launch of the logo and official draw of the competition during a press conference held at Football House on Tuesday.

The top 24 ranked according to their performance in the 2018 Dialog Premier League Championship were invited to participate in this unique tournament out of which 20 agreed to participate.

The tournament will be played within closed doors and strict health regulations because of the coronavirus.

The 20 teams were divided into five groups with each team guaranteed at least three matches during the preliminary rounds. All matches are scheduled to be played at the Racecourse grounds and Sugathadasa Stadium. The venues from the semifinal stage is yet to be decided.

Selected matches would be streamed live through FFSL’s official YouTube channel ‘Sri Lanka Football TV’ for local fans to enjoy football after a long lapse.

The teams were drawn into the five groups as follows:

Group A: Blue Star, Up Country, Java Lane, Moragasmulla

Group B: Renown, Matara City, New Youngs, New Star

Group C: Defenders, Red Stars, Saunders, Super Sun

Group D: Sea Hawks, Ratnam, SL Police, Serendib

Group E: Colombo FC, Blue Eagles, Crystal Palace, SLTB