Old Mutual Sponsors One-day Soccer Tournament in Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein, 31 July 2007
(Johannesburg, SA) – Old Mutual today announced the launch of a new one-day football festival to be staged at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein on 29 July. The festival, titled the "Old Mutual Mangaung Cup", will pit four of South Africa’s PSL teams against each other, and will also showcase the talents found as part of a 38-team Schools Challenge. The Cup will be run in conjunction with the Mangaung Local Municipality, and hosted by Bloemfontein Celtic. CLICK HERE TO VIEW PROMO VIDEO (or use Right Click > Save As - to save Video Clip)
Old Mutual is already official financial services supplier to three of the participating teams, namely Bloemfontein Celtic, Moroka Swallows and Ajax Cape Town. They will be joined by Free State Stars in what is being described as an ideal warm-up to the 2007/2008 PSL season which kicks off a week after the tournament.
"We’ve invited these four teams because they not only represent some of the top talent in PSL soccer, but also because the players and management have committed themselves to giving back to the community in Bloemfontein by participating in training clinics before the Cup," Old Mutual Sponsorship Manager Tony Lankester said. "Our sponsorship philosophy is to invest in success – and this tournament does that by not only giving the fans a new tournament to get their teeth into, but also filter down some skills and training to tomorrow’s superstars."
All the games that make up the Old Mutual Mangaung Cup will be televised live on Supersport, from 08h30.
"We’re hoping that this will become an annual event and that it will become a highlight on the pre-season calendar," Lankester said. "It’s a great opportunity for the players to stretch their legs before the PSL kicks off, and for fans to catch a glimpse of what their favourite teams have in store for them."
The Old Mutual Mangaung Schools Challenge, which culminates in the final to be played as the curtain raiser to the main game, will see 38 school teams from the Botshabelo, Thaba Nchu and Bloemfontein areas start their own tournament on 17 July.
Qualifying matches will be played in each region before the top eight teams compete for a chance to play in the curtain raiser. The quarterfinals will be played in Thaba Nchu and the semi finals in Botshabelo on 25 July. Venues still to be announced.
"This is going to be a fantastic feast of soccer for the fans," Bloemfontein Celtic owner Ikie Augusti said. "We’re very happy to be able to host the tournament in Mangaung and we’re hoping that our fans, and those of the other participating clubs, will come out and give us a pre-season morale boost."
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