The fourth edition of the annual Fruta Conquerors organized Namilco Knockout Football Festival was officially launched in the boardroom of the National Milling Company and kicks off on Saturday, October 23 at the Tucville Playfield.
Speaking on behalf of his company, Managing Director Bert Sukhai said that they are proud of the achievement of entering the fourth year of sponsoring the tournament.
“This is the fourth year that Namilco will be sponsoring the Namilco Football Festival and we are very proud of this achievement. We have seen the developments taking place over the years such as the improvement being carried out on the Tucville Ground,” he said.
“We would like to see that this tournament carries more prestige, we would like to see more stakeholders buying into this tournament so that it could grow. If these things were to happen, it would bring more money to the club for it to improve the game,” Sukhai added.
The company has not only been involved in football but numerous sports throughout the years. Sukhai stated that the support constantly handed out is part of their corporate social responsibility to give back to society and specific communities.
Meanwhile, sixteen of Guyana’s top teams will be competing for the top prize of $500,000. The tournament runner-up will receive $200,000; third place will receive $100,000 and the final top spot has a cash incentive of $50,000.
Individual prizes are also up for grabs. Swansea provides the Best Goalkeeper award, Junior’s Jewelry – the Highest Goal Scorer award, 2J’s Jewelry – the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and Global Technology will hand out two computer scholarships which will be won by the two most promising young players.
The teams include Alpha United, Milerock, Rosignol United, Victoria Kings, Monedderlust, Buxton United, Sunburst Camptown, BK Int’l Western Tigers, Riddim Squad, Santos Pele, Fruta conquerors, Seawall United, Guyana Defence Force and Buxton Stars.
The sixteenth team will be decided in a playoff with Grove Hi-Tec and New Amsterdam on the opening night. Following that match, Victoria Kings will meet Monedderlust in the tournament’s first match while Santos will face Pele in the feature encounter.
During the launching, the club and the company signed the renewal contract of partnership which they described as a strong one over the four years.