The Peninsula
Legendary players from Qatar and India will play each other as part of the inaugural ceremony of the 7th City Exchange Ria Money QIA Champions League to be held on April 5 at Doha stadium.
Around 80 guest players from India, who play for top clubs in ISL, are playing for the 12 teams in the competition. This was announced by the officials of Qatar Indian Association (QIA) at a a press conference held at the Marriott Hotel Doha.
The tournament kicked off with the initial group stage matches on March 21, with the opening match between Tea Time FC and Ansar Tea FC at the Doha Stadium. Eight group matches have been played so far, with ten more set to be played in the coming weeks.
The highlight of the inaugural ceremony will be an exhibition match featuring legendary players from Qatar and India, to mark the Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture.
The Indian team will be led by yesteryear stars IM Vijayan, Jopaul Ancheri and Asif Saheer.
On the other side, QIA officials and Qatari authorities have confirmed that the Qatari legends will add to the glamour of QIA Champions League as official brand ambassadors of the tournament.
This years QIA Champions League tournament is being held with the support and patronage of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and the QFA. In addition to this, QIA has partnered this year with Generation Amazing (GA), the CSR programme of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, the organisers of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“The QIA Champions League has earned an outstanding reputation among the Indian expatriate community since its inception in 2013 and has become a much awaited annual event. We are proud to associate with Generation Amazing and also celebrate Qatar-India Year of Culture,” Abdurrahman E P, President of QIA, said.
Safeer, QIA General Secretary, went on to explain the tournament format. This years event involves 12 participating teams, including those from Bangalore and Tamil Nadu, in addition to prominent teams from Kerala. The teams are split into 3 groups of 4 teams each.
The final is set to take place at Al Arab stadium on May 3 and organisers has promised some big surprise events on the day.
