Krabi to host IFC 9s tournament

MALAYSIA’S International Football Club (IFC), who have a proud tradition of hosting their event in various Asian cities, are eyeing Krabi this time.

And the ninth IFC 9s tournament will be held on Sept 22-23 in the Thai city.

The tournament, for players aged 40 and above, was first held in 2009 at Kelab Aman.

It has attracted 16 teams this year, including defending champions Century Lucky Star from China.

Other teams include Qantas from Australia, Brickwork Boyz from Singapore, Bangkok Airways, Krabi United and BigFoot Kickers from Thailand and Shanghai Lanyin FC from China.

The two-day competition will first be played in a round robin at the Krabi Power Plant ground before moving into the knockout stage, where teams will be separated into two pools.

In 2015, IFC donated their funds from the tournament to the Ranau Earthquake fund, while in 2014 and 2016 (both in Cambodia), the money was channeled to a local hospital.

Collections from this year’s tournament will go to the Krabi Special Education Centre.

Club members will also be celebrating the life of their former president Steve Krupa, who passed away earlier this year due to illness.

Organising chairman Kiranjit Singh said: “Steve would not have wanted it any other way.

“He would want us to celebrate his life by remembering the good times we had with him.

The IFC Football 9s has attracted a number of legends such as Datuk Soh Chin Aun, Datuk Santokh Singh, Zainal Nordin, Azrul Amri Burhan, V. Kalimutu and M. Chandran.

The late Karl Heinz Weigang, who was Malaysia’s national football coach in the early 1980s, was IFC’s first captain and coach.