Kandy Mayor’s Football Cup next week

By Hafiz Marikar

The annual under 15 and 19 Kandy Mayor’s Cup football tournament organised by the Kandy Municipal Council Play Grounds Department in association with the Kandy Association Football League will kick off from next week.
Last year over 50 teams took part and the matches were played in four venues, and the final was played at the Bogambara Stadium.
This time according to the chief organiser of the tournament, Play Grounds Master SA Weerasinghe, a former Sunrise F & AC, Red Diamonds SC, Kandy, Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka forward, who is a UK qualified coach, said that this time the tournament will be organised on a grand scale and the Play Grounds Department Chief, Kelum Shanthasisri, a well known figure in the hockey field, is giving his best together with the rest of the Play Ground Masters.
Mayor of Kandy, L.B.Aluwihare, a sports lover said “Football, a beautiful game, which is the world’s most popular game, is played in every corner over here in Kandy.” He said that for over one hundred years the Sri Lanka Football Federation has shown commitment and a passion towards developing football all round the country by organising tournaments through the governing body and their leagues. “When the Bogambara Stadium was under us, the game of football flourished in Kandy where the ground was released at a nominal fee of Rs. 350/- per game, today it is nearly Rs. 10,000.00 for a game of football, which most of the clubs are finding difficult to pay.
“We from the Council give a big hand for the game, by providing balls and grounds through the play grounds for the young up-and-coming boys, girls, and also men and women,” said Aluwihare.