FFC President Sao Sokha displays the BIDC Cup trophy during a press conference at the Phnom Penh Hotel on Monday.

Cambodian and Laos U23 national sides and two Vietnamese clubs will compete for the inaugural BIDC Cup at Olympic Stadium in November

CAMBODIA and Laos’ U23 national football teams, and professional Vietnamese teams Hoang Ann Gia Lai and Vissai Ninh Binh, will compete for the inaugural Cambodian International Football Tournament BIDC Cup 2009 on November 8-14 at Phnom Penh’s Olympic Stadium.

The event is sponsored by Bank for Investment and Development of Cambodia (BIDC) – a branch of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam – and is organised with cooperation of the football federations from the three neighbouring nations.

The tournament celebrates the 56th anniversary of Cambodian independence and strengthens friendship between Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. For Cambodia, it will be a good technical test for their SEA Games preparation.

Sao Sokha, president of the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC), revealed the format for the tournament at a press conference Monday. The president said that each team will meet each other once, with the top two (from points and goals scored) playing a final for the trophy, while the other two play for third place. Local television network TV5 will broadcast the games live, with the opening and closing ceremonies also screened in Vietnam.

The tournament champions will receive gold medals and US$20,000, with runners-up pocketing $10,000, and third place $5,000. The player of the tournament, the top scorer and the best goalkeeper will each receive $1,000.

Cambodia U23s, who were smashed 6-0 by their Singapore counterparts September 27, are currently in Ho Chi Minh City for training, playing five friendly matches against local opposition before returning home November 4. Laos as host country for the SEA Games are well-prepared, while the two Vietnamese teams have best records in their domestic V-league.

Nguyen Van Hien, executive chief of BIDC, said that this first tournament is important to the development of the football sector in the region. He confirmed the bank’s intention to organise the event every two years and promised prize money of $5,000 to the Cambodia team if they attained first or second place at the 25th SEA Games.