Burma to host AFC President’s Cup football finals

Salai Han Thar San
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Rangoon is set to host the Asian Football Confederation President’s Cup finals in September, according to the nation’s governing football body.

A Burma Football Federation spokesman told Mizzima it would pay for the cost of the semifinal and final games but at this point he was unaware of how much this would be.

He added that the main sponsor of the games would be the Blue Mountain soft drink bottler, a subsidiary of Loi Hein. The finals would be held at Thuwunna Youth Training Centre Stadium between September 24 and 26.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Blue Mountain would each front US$30,000 for the games. The bottler’s parent company Loi Hein was previously owned by Dr. Sai Sam Tun, owner of the Yadanarbon football club, one of the four participants in the finals.

Kyrgyzstan’s Dordoi-Dynamo, Turkmenistan’s HTTU Ashgabat and Tajikstan’s Vakhsh Qurghonteppa are also taking part. Dordoi will have a shot at appearing in its sixth consecutive AFC President’s Cup final after cup wins in 2006 and 2007.

Vakhsh previously appeared at the 2006 cup final, whereas it will be Yadanarbon’s and HTTU’s first showing. Last September Yadanarbon qualified for the finals when it won the first edition of the Burma National League Cup, defeating Rangoon United 4-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw at full-time.

Meanwhile, the AFC announced on its website on Monday that the draw for the finals had been postponed from Saturday to Sunday. It will now be held at 7:30 p.m. local time at the Inya Lake Hotel, Rangoon. A workshop on professional football will be held on the same day, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in conjunction with the draw.

Competitions director Tokuaki Suzuki and development manager Maksat Glychmamedov would be speaking at the workshop, the AFC said.

The Asian football body has held its President’s Cup contest, among league winners and second-place teams from low-ranking football nations across Asia, since 2005.

Eight countries were originally invited to participate, but the AFC later it expanded its list to include Burma, Bangladesh and Turkmenistan. Reigning champions, Tajik team Regar TadAZ Tursunzoda won the cup in 2008 and last year. The Kanbawza club, based in Taunggyi and representing Shan State, contested the AFC President’s Cup in 2008 and last year but failed to advance from the group stage.