Foreign flavour in DCL 2013

YASARATNE GAMAGE

Sri Lanka's number one football tournament, the Dialog Champions League ( DCL ) 2013 will commence soon with the participation of 20 elite football teams with 187 matches to be played island wide.

The newest edition of the tournament where number of teams participating has been increased from 12 to 20 and many of them comprising foreign players will no doubt give football lovers an exciting season of soccer during the coming months.

Veteran clubs from Colombo including Saunders, Ratnams, Java Lane, Renown and Colombo FC will vie with teams from outstations namely, Solid SC ( Anuradhapura ), Pelicans ( Kurunegala ), Up Country Lions ( Nawalapititya ), Super Sun ( Beruwala ), Matara City SC ( Matara ), Blue Star SC and Park SC ( Kalutara ), Negambo Youth SC and Don Bosco SC ( Negambo ) and New Youngs ( Wennappuwa ).

The services teams, Sri Lanka Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and Civil Security Department also will give tough competition to other teams.

This year the Football Federation of Sri Lanka ( FFSL ) has permitted inclusion of three foreign players for a team except for the teams from the security forces.

The foreign players will be mainly from Nigeria and Cameroon , according to FFSL sources. Their inclusion will undoubtedly create more excitement and enthusiasm for fans.

The tournament will also be the pathway for players to be selected for National pool as the National Selectors will visit the venues in search of young talent.