The Star - Metro
23 February 2006

Sponsor steps up for soccer

The inaugural 100PLUS Super Cup Champion Schools Football Championships will be another platform to create a broader base for budding footballers at the grassroots level.

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) general secretary Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad said football development had to be taken as a national agenda.

"FAM cannot work alone to lift Malaysian football out of the doldrums.

"The quality of the national side is as good as the talents coming through from the grassroots. We need to work closely together to elevate Malaysia's football standards." he added.

Students from 2,000 schools nationwide are expected to take part in the championships that will cater to three age-groups - Under-12, Under-15 and Under-18.

Schools will be competing at district level competition before advancing to state level. At the national level, the state champions will be vying for the Super Cup titles.

The Under-15 category is scheduled to kick off in Selangor (April 22-25) followed by the Under-18 category in Kedah (Aug 8-11).

Meanwhile, the Under-12 category will be held in Johor will be held in Johor (Nov 15-16).

For the 11-a-side competition in the Under-15 and Under-18 categories, each team can register up to 20 players.

The four-a-side format will be implemented for the Under-12 competition with each team requiring to register with each team requiring to register two non-Malay players in the six-player line-up.

In addition, two teams will be representing each state in the Under-12 category.

As the title sponsor, 100PLUS has pledged a contribution of RM2Mil in cash and kind over the next two years for the organisation of the event.

The event is jointly organised by 100PLUS and MSSM with support from the Education Ministry, the Football Association of Malaysia and the National Sports Council (NSC).

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar, Ibrahim and F&N Coca-Cola (M) Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Ng Jui Sia witnessed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between the Education Ministry and 100PLUS at Wisma FAM on Tuesday.

Education Ministry director-general Datuk Ahamad Sipon and Fraser & Neave (Singapore) Pte Ltd regional office country marketing head Chris Ng represented the ministry and 100PLUS, respectively, in sealing the deal.

"Football is one of the eight core sports identified by the Cabinet Sports Committee. We are serious about supporting the Government's efforts to develop football.

"Over the years, we have been increasing our contributions with a substantial amount of resources in sponsorship of sports events.

"We took up the role as title sponsor to continue our commitment to grassroots sports development," Jui Sia.