Zahira Veterans organise ‘Battle of the Masters 2019’ football tournament

Zahira Veterans will organise ‘Battle of the Masters 2019’ football tournament on 27 October from 8.00 a.m. onwards at the College Grounds.

With a rich history of over 127 years, Zahira College Colombo is one of the pioneers in school football, dominating the game ever since its inception, and has produced several national football players.

Zahira Veterans was incorporated in 2008 by founder Patron and former national player Naina Mohamed, along with a few other football legends produced by Zahira. Since 2011, the team have made several annual trips to play with foreign veterans’ teams. The team has travelled previously to Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia on numerous occasions.

Football at Zahira is not just a sport, it is a passion ingrained deep within the culture for more than 100 years. Hence, this tournament will be an initiative to recognise Sri Lankan football, with the concept of bringing together former football players and promoting the importance and value of their experience for the upcoming young football talent.

The main sponsor of the tournament is Old Boys’ Association (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Branch) Executive Committee Member Mohamed Jiffry, while the co-sponsor is Commercial Safety Ltd. (Viro) Marketing Executive F.K.M. Zahran, who presented sponsorship cheques to Zahira College Principal Trizviiy Marikkar.  

The tournament is conducted under the core objective of adding value to the past football talent in Sri Lanka.

The proceeds of this tournament will be utilised to uplift the sports facility of Zahira College, by providing 4 dugouts (substitute benches) for the college grounds.

The participating teams in the tournament are: Zahira College; Royal College; Ananda College; Hameed Al Husseinie College; St. Benedict’s College; De Mazenod College; Zahira College Gampola; and St Henry’s College Jaffna.

Zahira Veterans President T.J. Chuncheer and Zahira College Principal Trizviiy Marikkar addressed the press conference. Zahira College OBA President Naina Mohamed, Project Chairman Shaffie Namiz and other Members were also present. 

Text and pics by Ruzaik Farook