‘Keep Ya Five Alive’ Fustal c/ships commences today
The annual ‘Keep Ya Five Alive’ Futsal Championship will officially kickoff today at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue with six elimination fixtures.
In the opening fixture at 19:00hrs, Plaisance will oppose Kitty, while the second contest at 19:30hrs, will pit Too against Rhythm Star. At 20:30hrs, Showstoppers tackles Sophia, while North Ruimveldt battles Grove Hi-Tech at 21:00hrs.
Sparta Boss will then take aim at Russian All-Stars at 21:30hrs in the fifth showdown, while the final contest at 22:00hrs will witness Broad Street engaging West Back Road.
Meanwhile, Kevin Adonis, creator and coordinator of the championships, said that he envisions a very competitive tournament.
“I expect a very competitive tournament. I am using the best teams from each zone in the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’, so it will be good competitive football and a lot of excitement.”
The event, which is set to conclude in August at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue, will feature 32 teams from various regions competing in an elimination format.
Asked what the reasons for the change in format were, Adonis revealed, “The move away from the street football is because of the operational cost. It is much higher with the field football, so as a promoter you have to be cautious of that.”
According to Adonis, “The first tournament was played on the field and I was just testing the waters. Then I moved to the street football but I took it to Futsal because the operational costs is much more for street football.”
Quizzed what measures will be effected to make the tournament better than the previous editions, Adonis affirmed, “We will have better referees such as Harry (Wayne Griffith), he knows the format well, the players and they respect him. Also, the other different thing is the event is played in an elimination format. All the other tournaments have a round robin stage, so from the onset, every game is like a final and you have to win.”
Winner of the event will walk away with $500,000 and the championship trophy while the runners-up will receive $250,000 and the corresponding accolade. The event will resume July 11 at the same venue.