Birgunj, (Parsa), 10th February: The second Birgunj Gold Cup, the highest-grossing tournament in Madhesh Province, is scheduled to be held at the Ardashnagar Stadium in Birgunj from the second week of Falgun 2081. Eight national-level football teams will participate in the tournament, organized by Veteran City Club Birgunj, from Falgun 17 to 24.
The football tournament will be played in the knockout stage. Sabin Basnet, President of Veteran City Club Birgunj, informed that the second Birgunj Gold Cup football tournament is being organized to develop the culture of football in Madhesh Province. “In the past, there was a lot of football activity in Birgunj. However, with the recent slowdown in football activities in Birgunj, we are planning to organize a competition to develop and promote the sport,” he said. “The competition will also see the active participation of the Indian team along with the A Division League football team. We expect this to play an important role in developing football in Madhesh Province.”
Sankata Football Club, Machhindra Football Club, Bagmati Youth Club Sarlahi, Nepal Police Club, Garwal Diamond Football Club Delhi, API Church Boys United, Kathmandu, Salhesh Football Club Siraha and the host Birgunj United Club will compete in the competition. Club treasurer and competition coordinator Subodh Kumar Srivastava informed that the winning team of the competition will be awarded Rs 1,111,111 in cash, trophy, medal and certificate and the runner-up team will be awarded Rs 555,555 in cash, trophy, medal and certificate. ”The renovation work of the Ardashnagar Stadium for the competition has reached the final stage,” he said, ”The renovation work of the stadium has been intensified for the past two months.” The main sponsor of the competition is Birgunj Metropolitan City. The organizer has stated that it will cost about Rs 10 million to complete the competition.
The work of constructing a temporary stand has also been accelerated targeting the spectators coming to the competition. He said, “The temporary stand has the capacity to accommodate more than two thousand spectators, while the ground has the capacity to accommodate more than three thousand spectators.” Competition coordinator Srivastava informed that although famous football activities were held in Birgunj in the past, the competition is being organized to revive the football activities that have slowed down recently. “In the past, the Shahid Tej Bahadur Amatya Gold Cup and the Vishal Memorial Gold Cup were organized. We are going to organize the competition to revive the fading football competition in Birgunj,” he said, “The local Khela Gold Cup competition is expected to create a proper platform for local football players to showcase their skills.”
The first Birgunj Gold Cup football tournament was organized in the month of Kartik 2080. Nepal Police Club was the winner of the first edition of Birgunj Gold Cup and Nepal Army Club was the runner-up.
