Fourth EK Nayanar Memorial Gold Cup at Kozhikode

The fourth edition of the EK Nayanar Memorial Gold Cup, organised by the EK Nayanar Memorial Trust, will be held at the EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode in late February or March, 2012 during the I-League break, the organisers of the event informed the media on Tuesday. The tournament is expected to feature seven I-League clubs along with a Kerala Eleven and second division side Mohammedans Sporting.

The first three editions of the tournament held in memory of Kerala's former Chief Minister EK Nayanar were played at Kannur. But this time, it will be held at Kozhikode as part of the 20th CPI(M) Party Congress to be held at the city in April 2012.

McDowell Mohun Bagan, Kingfisher East Bengal and Mohammedans Sporting from Kolkata, Salgaocar SC and Churchill Brothers SC from Goa, Chirag United Kerala FC and Kerala Eleven from Kerala and Mumbai FC and Pune FC from Maharashtra have confirmed their participation in the 2012 edition of the Gold Cup, said the organisers.

The tickets for the tournament that is expected to be played under the floodlights of the EMS Stadium will be priced at  Rs. 30 for a match. Season tickets will be available at the rate of Rs. 250. Prayag United SC were the champions of the last edition of the event, by beating Shillong Lajong FC 30 in the finale of 2010.

Elamaram Kareem, A Pradeepkumar - Members of the Legislative Assembly - and representatives of the district football association attended the meeting, which will again meet on January 9, 2012 to finalise the decisions regarding the tournament.

UPDATE: The tournament has been scheduled to begin on February 24 to March 15, 2012 with 16 clubs vying for glory in two pools of eight teams each. Top two teams from each pool qualify for the semi finals. Kingfisher East Bengal, McDowell Mohun Bagan, Prayag United SC, Air India FC, Dempo SC, Salgaocar SC, Churchill Brothers SC, Pune FC, Mumbai FC and Chirag United Kerala have all been confirmed participation.

From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Wednesday 28 December 2011, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.