By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, June 10: Tibetan National Sports Association (TNSA) Executive Secretary, Mr Kelsang Dhondup today formally declared the Qualified Teams , Fixtures and venue, and other confirmation details of the 13th Gyalyum Chenmo Memorial Gold Cup (GCMGC) Football Tournament 2007 at a press conference here today.
This year, the GCM footbal tournament, the single largest and the most coveted sporting event for Tibetans in exile as of now, will be held in Dhondup Ling (Clement Town, Dehradun), a Tibetan settlement in the Northern Indian state of Uttranchal, not far from Dharamsala.
Speaking to a group of Tibetan media, Mr Kelsang said, “We are happy to announce that for the first time the GCM Football Tournament will be held outside Dharamsala.” “It will be a new experience for the organisers, for players and football enthusiasts,” he added.
McLeodganj in Dharamsala is the exile base for the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan administration in exile.
“There is already this huge excitement among Tibetans from Clmemen Town settlement and its surrounding areas,” Mr Kelsang told the Tibetan media today.
Of the 18 Tibetan football clubs, which have initially filed their application for preliminary registration, 14 football clubs from across Nepal and India have finally been listed qualified to take part in the tournament, due to kick start on the 27th of this month.
The remaining four teams, including the Kathmandu team who won the cup in 2005 had to withdraw from the tournament due to inconveniences on their part.
Prior to the first opening match, a brief opening ceremony will mark the start of the of GCM 2007 football tournament.
GCM 2007 will have teams playing a League-cum-knockout with 21 matches altogether. The 14 teams will be divided into four pools; with four teams in Pool A, 3 in Pool B, four again in Pool C and remaining 3 in Pool D. With the end of league part, there will be a one day break on July 2.
The knock out part of the game will resume again from July 3 with 12 qualifying teams from the league play.
With a strong organising committee formed consisting mostly of local leaders of Clementown and a well-organized planning, I hope will ensure that there will be a very clean and sound game this time in Clementown.
The matches will be played in two separate grounds, with reports that organisers are even laying lawn to make GCM 2007 a class tournament.
The final match will be played at 4:00pm local time on July 6 2007, coinciding with the 72nd Birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The first GCMGC club level tournament was held in 1981, in the loving memory of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s late mother. The 12th GCMGC 2005 was lifted by Dhondupling FC (Clement Town).
Since 2003, the TNSA has been organising the GCMGC. TNSA is now fully responsible for organising the tournament every year. Through this tournament, TNSA also regularly selects players for Tibetan National Football Team for participation in tournaments around the world.
“We will look for new talented players for our national team” Mr Kelsang said today.
According to Mr Kelsang, TNSA is now encouraging formation of football clubs at school level as part of its new initiative move.
