GUWAHATI, Sept 9 - The Guwahati Sports Association (GSA) and Guwahati Football Club are teaming up to host the 64th edition of the Bharat Ratna Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi Trophy Football Tournament in a befitting manner in a bid to bring back the past glory of the premier football tournament of the country.
Addressing a press conference to give detail of the championship, the GSA president Munin Nobis said that the Guwahati FC will provide the financial support in organising the championship and for that they have prepared an ambitious budget. The tournament will kick start on September 18 and the curtains will come down on September 30 with the final match. He revealed that this time a theme song has been prepared by the noted music director Bhupen Uzir, who himself released the song during the press meet. Nobis further said artist Kishore Das of Guwahati Artist Guild has prepared a Bordoloi Trophy logo. The GSA president also thanked Guwahati FC managing director Sanjive Narain for his effort in collecting all the funds for the meet.
Narain said, they will add some other features in the championship like musical nine, food festival, city buses to different places of the city after the matches etc so that crowd could be attracted and the Nehru Stadium galleries are packed. On the opening day leading singer Arijit Singh will perform with his team, Narain said.
This year the championship will be a eight-team affair and it will be played in league-cum-knock out basis. The participating teams-East Bengal, Shillong Lajong FC, Nepal 3 Star, United Sikkim, Flemingo of Nagaland, Oil India FC, ASEB Sports Club and one team from Bangladesh (not Abahani Krira Chakra)-will be divided into two groups. After the league phase top two teams from each group will qualify for semifinals. The matches will kick start at 7 pm. East Bengal will square off against Oil India FC in the opening match. The opening match will commence from 6 pm and after which Arijit Singh�s function will start. The organisers will issue season tickets with minimum rate of Rs 500.
The Guwahati FC MD intimated that the top teams of the respective States, (from Sylhet district of Bangladesh) have been invited for the championship so that tough contests take place. He finally said that the preparation is almost complete and urged the football buffs to help the organisers in reviving the coveted event of the State.
A total prize-money of Rs 20 lakh is at stake which will be provided by the State government, the organisers said.
