The Fiji Muslim League sanctioned Fiji Muslim National Soccer Championship gets under way in Nausori this afternoon after a lapse of 16 years.

The last tournament organised by the League was in 1992 after which there was a rift in the organization.

That resulted in the formation of more than one body and the organisation of different tournaments under different Muslim banners.

However, this year all the rivalries came to end with all parties joining hands to organise the tournament under the main banner with the hope of strengthening ties and making the tournament one of the biggest and best organised.

Tournament organiser and general secretary of the Fiji Muslim League Mohammed Farouk said the tournament would get all Muslims around the nation together.

He said it would serve as a selection of the Fiji teams to the FANCA World Cup scheduled to be played in Australia in October.

“This tournament will kick off after a lapse of 16 years and it indeed has been organised in a big way and I am calling on all soccer-loving people to come out in numbers and support the various teams that will be participating over the four days,” said Farouk.

“There are 16 teams in the super premier and 5 in the premier division and we also have a competition for the veterans.

“The Fiji U21, Fiji senior and the Fiji veteran’s teams will be selected from the tournament to represent the nation in the FANCA World Cup.

“We have also broken the boundaries rules this time around and now a player can play for any district of his choice unlike previously whereby a player residing at a place could only play for that particular district.

“The tournament has been made possible also with the sponsorship from Shariff Investments and we would like to sincerely thank the sponsors for pouring in more than $10,000 for the four day event” he added.

Navua is the defending champion of the tournament, which was last held in 1992.

Fijilive

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