Monday, 15 February 2010 The largest-ever international soccer gathering in the country's history where for the first time teams from outside the South Asian region are taking part was described by Manilal Fernando, AFC vice-president and the leading Sri Lankan Football official. "Sri Lanka is at peace now and I wanted to get the message across to the world, especially people in Asia, that we are a country which is beautiful and we have smiling people. I want YOU to come back," said Fernando.
"After Sri Lanka achieved peace in May, 2009, I was looking for an opportunity to showcase this country to the world, an event which would bring us recognition," Fernando said. "The AFC Challenge Cup gives us this opportunity. "So I requested Mr (Mohamed Bin) Hammam (AFC president), to give us this opportunity. He recommended it to the AFC executive committee, and the hosting rights were then given to us," Fernando added. Eight teams, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan from the former Soviet bloc, Myanmar from the Asean region, World Cup-bound DPR Korea, India, Bangladesh and the hosts Sri Lanka will take part from February 16-27 in Colombo. To add more spice to the event is the fact that the winners will qualify for next January's AFC Asian Cup in Doha. India have already booked their berth by winning the previous edition in 2008. It is still undecided if the runners-up in Colombo - in case India win it again - will advance to the Asian Cup. The Koreans have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 44 years, but they still have to book a berth in the AFC Asian Cup and this will be their last opportunity to do so. Last Updated ( Monday, 15 February 2010 ) -------------------------------------------------------- The content of this electronic communication is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and any others who are specifically authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or otherwise placing reliance on the contents of this information is prohibited and may be unlawful in certain legal jurisdictions. If you have received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately by responding to this email and then delete it from your system. -------------------------------------------------------- ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________ -- ****************************************************** This is the Best Sri Lankan E-Mail Group. ****************************************************** IF you like to join us, Go to, http://groups.google.lk/group/sricom/boxsubscribe visit this group at http://groups.google.lk/group/sricom ***************:::www.SriNet.lk:::****************** ****************************************************** ===================================================================== If this email is addressed wrongly, or if you no longer wish to receive emails, kindly inform us so that we may correct and update our lists. ===================================================================== http://www.srinet.lk/
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