FNB Cup launch today at Sam Nujoma Stadium

FIRST National Bank of Namibia will launch the 2006 edition of the FNB football Cup at the Sam Nujoma Stadium this afternoon.

This is the second consecutive year that the FNB Cup will be staged under the new contract of the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) and the NFA. Sixteen teams will participate in the FNB Cup – 12 Namibia Premier League (NPL) teams and four teams from the Nationwide First Division.Blue Waters are the defending champions of the lucrative FNB Cup, of which the knockout round will be take place at two separate venues.It will be held in Mariental on November 18 and 19 and at Gobabis on November 25 and 26.The draw will determine which eight teams will travel to Mariental, while the remaining eight will go to Gobabis the following weekend.FNB’s corporate communications manager, Cassius Moetie, yesterday confirmed that Minister of Sport John Mutorwa had accepted an invitation to officiate at the FNB Cup launch, while the football controlling body NFA will have a slot to make a few remarks as the recipient of the N$500 000 FNB Cup sponsorship.Moetie said FNB was the first company to host an official football event under the consortium contract.”Namibians are football hungry right now and they have waited for too long for active football under the vanguard of the NFA.So, the FNB Cup is well timed and I have no doubt that Namibians will come in big numbers to the football stadiums in Mariental, Gobabis and Windhoek” Moetie said.The semi-finals and final will be played on December 9 and 16 respectively.FNB, Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) and Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) form the consortium (NFC) and have committed themselves to sponsoring football for five years.This year, the three companies dished out N$8 million to Namibian football in a contract which is in its second year now.Apart from the FNB Cup, which is regarded as the season opener for domestic football, there are also the Hansa Pilsener Cup and the NFA MTC Cup.The Hansa Pilsener Cup has prize money of N$500 000, while the MTC NFA Cup pays a whopping N$800 000 as prize money for the winning teams.Sixteen teams will participate in the FNB Cup – 12 Namibia Premier League (NPL) teams and four teams from the Nationwide First Division.Blue Waters are the defending champions of the lucrative FNB Cup, of which the knockout round will be take place at two separate venues.It will be held in Mariental on November 18 and 19 and at Gobabis on November 25 and 26.The draw will determine which eight teams will travel to Mariental, while the remaining eight will go to Gobabis the following weekend.FNB’s corporate communications manager, Cassius Moetie, yesterday confirmed that Minister of Sport John Mutorwa had accepted an invitation to officiate at the FNB Cup launch, while the football controlling body NFA will have a slot to make a few remarks as the recipient of the N$500 000 FNB Cup sponsorship.Moetie said FNB was the first company to host an official football event under the consortium contract.”Namibians are football hungry right now and they have waited for too long for active football under the vanguard of the NFA.So, the FNB Cup is well timed and I have no doubt that Namibians will come in big numbers to the football stadiums in Mariental, Gobabis and Windhoek” Moetie said.The semi-finals and final will be played on December 9 and 16 respectively.FNB, Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) and Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) form the consortium (NFC) and have committed themselves to sponsoring football for five years.This year, the three companies dished out N$8 million to Namibian football in a contract which is in its second year now.Apart from the FNB Cup, which is regarded as the season opener for domestic football, there are also the Hansa Pilsener Cup and the NFA MTC Cup.The Hansa Pilsener Cup has prize money of N$500 000, while the MTC NFA Cup pays a whopping N$800 000 as prize money for the winning teams.