Organisers of the Barbados Invitational Masters Football Classic (BIMFC) are keen to further expand the event’s appeal.
This year’s competition runs from May 21 to 25 and speaking during Wednesday’s launch at Sandals Barbadados, vice-chairman Trevor Thorne revealed it is expected to attract almost 800 visitors to the island.
Thorne said while a number of teams opted out of this year’s edition in favour of traveling to the FIFA World Cup, the tournament still managed to attract eight overseas squads.
He said with a price tag of over $70, 000 dollars, the competition needed increased private sector support to ensure its continued success.
“We’re still the biggest masters tournament in the Caribbean region, but St. Lucia, through its government, is offering a lot of help to the organisers over there, so it looks attractive as well.
“We had to pull the rabbit out of the hat again this year to get the numbers up and also to be able to provide good prize money and good venues for them to play at as well,” Thorne said.
Thorne also revealed that this year’s edition will feature new categories of competition.
“We’ve had the Over-40s there for quite some time, we’ve also had the Over-50s there for some time and we’ve now gone to two new categories; Over-55s and Over-60s as well. Clearly as you add more categories, you need more prize money and therefore, corporate Barbados, we’re asking for your help. We’re beseeching you to come and help us,” Thorne said.
He disclosed that this year’s tournament will be staged at a number of venues across the island, with the final set for the Barbados Football Association’s Wildey Technical Centre on Whit Monday.
“This Friday, that’s the kickoff at Kickstart Rush. We also play all evening long at Dover and then by the weekend we’re at Combermere and we will also touch Deacons for a bit because we want to bring some community spirit to that area as well,” Thorne said.
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