The inaugural National Futsal Championship involving 32 newly registered teams kicks off on Monday at the Beeline Arena with the semi-finals and final slated for November 2.

Organised by the country’s first and only privately owned multi-purpose facility, Beeline Arena, in collaboration with the Football Federation of Cambodia, the first ever structured national event in the shorter version of the game is sponsored by Tiger Beer, who brought Tiger Street Football to Cambodia for the first time earlier this year.

Cambodia Coca Cola and Ezecom are the co-sponsors of the event, with Naga Clinic stepping in as medical partners for the tournament.

An official draw to determine the four team groupings will be held tomorrow. The eight pool winners will enter the knockout phase of the event which carries prize money of $2,500 for the winners, $1,000 for the runners-up and $500 for the third-place getters.

“We are very keen to promote futsal and the FFC is happy to have found ideal partners in Beeline Arena, Tiger Beer, Coca Cola and Ezecom to help us revive national interest,” FFC deputy general secretary May Tola said at a news conference yesterday.

Roland Bala, general manager of Cambodia Brewery Limited, the makers of Tiger Beer, said: “Tiger Beer has always championed sport and this is yet another opportunity for us to show our support to the sporting community of Cambodia.”

Expressing his gratitude to the various sponsors and partners, Beeline Arena general manager Charles Julliard said the semi-finals and final will be broadcast live from 4 to 6pm on November 2 by local channel My TV.

“Matches will be played every day between 1pm and 7pm and there will be no matches on October 31,” Julliard added.

Under a two-year Memorandum of Understanding reached with the FFC, Beeline Arena will also play host to the 2014 Championship.