Merc. Soccer Sevens for Dialog trophy

Bernard Perera

The 3rd annual Mercantile seven-a-side soccer championship organised by Mercantile Soccer Association will kick-off at 8 a.m. on December 1 at CR & FC ground.

This year 32 teams are in battle to go away with the Dialog GSM trophy as Dialog Telekom have come forward to sponsor the event for the first time.

These details were disclosed by B. M. Godwin, Secretary, MFA, speaking at the press briefing held to receive the sponsorship.

Adding further he said that this year’s tourney will be played on a new format to gain more enthusiasm to players and also with a view to giving the sponsors their due mileage.

The thirty two teams are grouped into eight with one comprising of four teams where they play the preliminary round on a league basis.

The winner and runner-up from each group are billed to play in round two which will be on a knock-out basis.

Top eight teams play for the cup championship while the runners up play to grab the Plate championship. The winners of the Cup championship and the Plate championship will be awarded Rs. 15,000 each while the runners-up of both segments too will receive Rs. 10,000 in addition to trophies and medals.

Chirantha de Soysa, Senior Group Manager, Marketing and Promotions said that his company thought it fitting to join hands with sport that is played by the majority.

We have to think of peace and harmony which is the need at this hour. It is sport that can bring this much needed friendship among people for a better society.

On the other side it is one of our duties to promote sport in this country that is why Dialog GSM Telekom has undertaken the task of sponsoring many sports in our country. Our attempt has brought in good result for both sport and the company.

As such we hope to continue with our sponsorships for future events too. He also thanked the media and the organisers for giving this opportunity, adding further, he said that media too plays a vital role in promoting sports in Sri Lanka.