Sabah Open Football League kicks off this weekend
KOTA KINABALU: A total of 33 teams will be vying for honours in the Sabah Open Football League Tournament which kicks off here this weekend.
Organising chairman Andrew Lian Awa said the number could increase following requests to extend the registration due date to July 4.
The tournament was jointly organised by Marven Sports and Andrew Lian Awa, together with the cooperation of several nongovernmental organisations.
“Actually the number of entries exceeded what we targeted, which was 26, and today we conducted the tournament draw so that the event can begin as scheduled on July 7.
“If there are other teams that submit their registration before the closing date, we will put them in groups that have extra slots but we will limit the total entries to 40 teams,” said Andrew.
He said this in a press conference after the tournament draw and team managers’ meeting which were held at the Sabah Prison Department here on Saturday.
According to Andrew, the teams were divided into several groups and will compete in a single round league format, whereby the top two teams from each group will advance to the knock-out stage.
Matches will be played at the Sabah Police Headquarters (IPK) and at the Sabah Prisons Department on Saturdays and Sundays.
A Charity Shield match on July 7 between Sabahcops and Penjara FC will be held at the IPK field to help kick start the league.
“The Charity Shield match is part of the opening ceremony while the league competition begins on July 8,” added Andrew.
Attractive cash prizes worth up to RM32,000 plus trophies and medals will be up for grabs. The champions will receive RM15,000 while the runners-up will walk away with RM8,000.
Third and fourth place teams will receive RM5,000 and RM3,000 respectively.
There will also be cash prizes of RM500 each for the top Scorer and Best Team.
The participating teams include Sabahcops, Penjara FC, Luton FC Keningau, Biah Skim FC (KBS FC) Nabawan, Impian FC KK, Adisson XII FC Kota Belud, Tankur FC KK, Plus One FC Kota Belud, Milaad FC Matunggong, The Blues FC KK, Kudat Cool Kudat, Pisgo FT Beaufort, KSRP KK, Racing Athletic KK, MKT FT Tenom and TBR FC KK.
The others are Solo FC KK, DBKK FT, KDM FC Labuan, NFT Nabawan, Darau FT KK, Ganang FC KK, Sporting Kinabalu FC KK, SB Villa FC Tenom, Lapangan Team Ranau, Briged Sabah PGA, Marven Sports FT Inanam, Santai FC KK, BB Queen KK, GBR Pedalaman Nabawan, Sabah Customs FT, Juta FC Keningau and Kompleks FT Labuan.