MONROVIA, Montserrado – The annual Liberia Diaspora Tournament is set to kick off today, Sunday, December 31 at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium with four teams set to participate in the two-day event.
The tournament will bring together four youth teams and four senior teams. The 2016-17 Liberia double champions, LISCR FC, first division team, Keitrace FC, an organizational team, Eleven Gbelleh, and the Liberia Diaspora team that consists of mostly foreign-based Liberian players are the teams that will play in the senior challenge. Meanwhile, the Monrovia Football Academy, Elite Football Academy, KUSA Super Star Academy, and David Suah Foundation will participate in the youth challenge cup.
The tournament originally would have featured high profile first division team, Barrack Young Controller. According to the chief organizer of the event, Billy Newray, the Go Blue Boys had accepted the invitation to be a part. However, on Friday, they announced that they won’t be a part after the fixture was released. They were replaced by Keitrace Football Club, which will play LISCR FC.
The knockout tournament will see the four winning teams advance to the final while the four losers will play the third-place match. According to a release from the organizing committee, scholarships will be awarded to high performing players in the youth challenge.
The tournament will begin with the Monrovia Football Academy going against the Elite Football Academy at 10:00 a.m. while KUSA Super Star Academy takes on David Suah Foundation at 12:00 p.m. The senior cup challenge will begin 2:00 p.m. when the Liberia Diaspora Team will take on Eleven Gbelleh. LISCR and Keitrace will end the day’s encounter in the second senior cup match at 4:00 p.m.
The tournament will be given a break on January 1. On January 2, it will resume with the third-place match of the youth cup at 10:00 a.m. before the youth cup final at 12:00 p.m. After the final of the youth cup, the third-place match between the two losers in the senior cup will be played at 2:00 p.m. before the final at 4:00 p.m.
The last edition was won by Mighty Barrolle. The Kanyan Pepper Boys beat the LPRC Oilers 3-2 in penalties to win the 2016 edition.
Featured photo by T. Kla Wesley Jr.
