President Cup Inter-School Invitation Football Tournament on 7 Jan.

Text and Pic by Ruzaik Farook

The President Cup Inter-School Invitation Football Tournament will be held from 7-22 January.

The Group of ’80 Hameed Al Husseinie College Colombo has organised this year’s tournament under floodlights at the Racecourse Sports Complex Grounds in Colombo 7. The champions’ trophy, the Presidents Cup, will be presented to the wining team. The launch ceremony was held at College Hall recently. President Maithripala Sirisena will be the Chief Guest at the final.

From its inception in 2008, the football tournament has been organised with the approval of the Ministry of Education of Sri Lanka, the Football Federation and the Schools Football Association of Sri Lanka. The tournament’s sole objective at the start was to popularise football among schoolchildren and the general public, while also promoting fellowship and camaraderie among schoolchildren. Over the course of the past decade however, the tournament has served as a major talent incubator for the sport, offering selectors the opportunity each year to identify and nurture young talent, building a strong talent pool of football players in the country.

Twenty school football teams confirmed their participation including Ananda College, D.S. Senanayake College, Isipathana College, Nalanda College, Royal College, St. Benedict’s College, Zahira College (Gampola) and Hameed Al Husseinie College.

The school’s Principal M.S.M. Faizal, Group of ’80 Patron Haroon Ahamed, President Lahir Salih, Secretary M.B.M. Zabeer, Tournament Committee Chairman M.H.M. Iqbal and Sports Committee Chairman T.M.M. Mufshid were present at the launch ceremony.