Andaman provinces to host Senior World Cup
PHUKET CITY: The Senior Footballers’ Association of Thailand (SFA), in association with the Tourist Authority of Thailand, is organizing the first Football Senior World Cup tournament to celebrate the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King’s accession to the throne.
The tournament is to be held in Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga provinces, tentatively between April 24 and 30. It will include teams from at least 12 countries and is to feature squads from footballing greats such as Brazil, Argentina, England, Germany, France, Italy, along with Australia, Iran, South Korea, Japan, China and the United Arab Emirates. Another two countries have yet to be invited to take part.
Somprasong Eimsakul, Secretary of the Chief Executive of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), told the Gazette, “The OrBorJor was asked by the SFA to help publicize and provide training locations for the tournament.
“In Phuket we will use Surakul Stadium for the competition itself, while facilities at Phuket Rajabhat University, the Prince of Songkhla University, Sanam Chai and Karon Municipality Stadium will be used for training.”
The players are scheduled to arrive around April 20 and the SFA expects that the tournament will also attract spectators from many of the participating countries.
K. Somprasong went on to explain that there will be a grand opening ceremony in Krabi on April 24, and the final, along with the closing ceremony, will be held at Surakul Stadium. The SFA has planned three “leagues”, with Phuket hosting Group A, Phang Nga Group B and Krabi Group C.
1993 World Footballer of the Year Roberto Baggio and the former coach of the German national team, Rudi Voller, are among the stars expected to take part. K. Somprasong says that there is a possibility that Brazilian legend Pelé will attend but that this has not yet been confirmed.
Revenue earned from sponsorship will go to local tsunami-affected schools. Entrance to the matches is free.
For more information call K. Somprasong at Tel: 076-210421-3 or 01-8953132, or the SFA at Tel: 02-2606020-5.
