18 teams play 100 matches in Dialog Super League
by Ranjan Anandappa
Football in Sri Lanka will receive a tremendous boost as Dialog
Axiata will sponsor the Dialog Champions League 2016 for the eleventh
consecutive year with 100 matches on the card involving sixty referees
and over fifty officials when the tournament kicks off on June 24
(Friday) at the Race Course grounds under lights.
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Captains of the participating teams with the trophy. (Photo
courtesy- FFSL) |
The ultimate motive of conducting a tournament of this nature is no
doubt to uplift the standard of the game with the help of the continued
support from Dialog who has come forward over a decade in a quest of
making soccer the number one sport in the island as the number of teams
taking part this year reduced to 18 from the last year's 22.
The president of the Football Federation Anura de Silva believes in
quality rather than quantity and by reducing the teams it could enable
to bring out the best out of the players and make the tournament more
competitive.The FFSL president added that with Dialog's support, the
game of football in Sri Lanka was taken to the rural area's so that
latent talent could be identified for the betterment of the game.
"If the country's football were to reach international standards a
touch of professionalism should be introduced and the reduction of the
teams could have a big impact in improving the level of the sport in the
country. The 18 teams will be divided in to two groups and the four top
teams from each group will meet each other in a super 8 contest on a
league basis to determine the winner. Last year Colombo FC defeated the
Army to win the prestigious trophy. Dialog has been in the forefront in
sponsoring many a sports and are bound to support sports in the country
and hopes this tournament will bring out the best of the players for
their future endeavours.
The 18 teams have been divided into two grou-ps. In group 'A' Blue
Stars SC Kalutara, Civil Security SC, Colombo FC, Crystal SC Gampola,
Matara, Army SC, Negombo Youth, Solid Sc, Up country SC In group 'B'
Java Lane, New Youngs SC, Renown SC, Saunders SC, Air Force SC, Navy SC,
Police SC, Super Sun FC, Thihariya Youth FC. |
