Digicel announces sponsorship of Timor-Leste inaugural Nationwide Football Tournament

Digicel, the fastest growing telecommunications provider in the Pacific, in association with the Football Federation of Timor-Leste has announced the launch of Timor-Leste's first ever nationwide club football tournament.

The Digicel Liga will feature fourteen teams from thirteen districts across Timor-Leste and includes a record prize pool of US$10,000, with US$5,000 for the winning team.

The Digicel Liga will be held at the National Stadium in Dili, from Saturday, May 8th with the last game being played on Saturday, July 10th, 2010. As part of the sponsorship deal each of the fourteen teams will be provided with home and away football kits and training equipment.

The first round of games in the under 23s tournament will be a round robin series where the teams are divided into three groups. Group A is made up of four teams and groups B and C comprise five teams each.

The teams will play each other over the four week period in May and the leading two teams from each group will qualify for round two where they will play each other once. The team with the most points at the end of the series will be crowned the Digicel Liga Champions. The tournament, organised by the FFTL, will be played under Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) rules.

The Digicel Liga was established as part of the FFTL’s four year sponsorship agreement with the mobile telecommunications company.

The deal which was signed on December 2nd, 2009, saw Digicel – the biggest sponsor of football in the Caribbean and in Central America – join forces with the Timor-Leste Football Federation to support the development of football from the grassroots level right up to the national team.

"Hong Kong's racing industry enjoys a celebrated history, spanning more than a century and now, thirteen years after the return of sovereignty to China, exemplifies the success of Hong Kong's One Country, Two Systems arrangement", Ms Wong said.

Prominent publicity was given to Hong Kong at today's event – including the naming rights for a major race broadcast live on free-to-air TV, a large BrandHK signage at the venue, BrandHK video clips being displayed on a big screen on course and a full page race book advertisement.

In addition, the sponsorship provides a continuous promotional platform throughout 2010 for various Hong Kong messages in the e-newsletters and official website of the Sydney Turf Club, the organiser of the Golden Slipper Day.

The Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Sydney, Ms Lorna Wong, delivers a speech at Australia's Golden Slipper Day event today (April 3rd).