THE?Barbados International Masters Football Festival kicks off at Dover, Wanderers and Carlton at 1 p.m. today with 28 teams looking to takethe title won by Upstars International of Trinidad and Tobago last year.
Twelve local teams will be joined by others from Britain, the United States, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana, and Grenada. There will be seven groups of four teams each.
Last year, local team Paradise lost in the final to Upstars, who are not taking part this year.
One of the coordinators, Adrian Donovan, said that teams from Trinidad and Tobago have taken the title over the past three years and he felt it was time that the Cup stayed in Barbados.
In a media launch held at The Sporting Pig in Time Out In The Gap, Winston Carter of the Barbados Tourism Authority said that this year’s festival would bring more than 550 visitors to Barbados with a projected $1 million injection into the economy.
Three teams are taking part from Trinidad and Tobago with the Defence Force squad being responsible for a group of 80.
President of the Barbados Football Association Randy Harris said masters football had a serious role to play in the development of the sport locally.
“Most of the participants had represented their countries at the highest level and they could pass on tremendous experience and knowledge to upcoming players,” he said.
The football will climax on Monday at Wanderers with the plate final at 3.15 p.m. and the tournament final at 4.30 p.m. (KB)
