IGG, Thai ladies win Afoc titles

International Golden Group (IGG) and Thailand Ladies have been crowned champions of the women and men’s five-a-side football events respectively, at the end of the 15th AFOC Ramadan Sports Festival. The three-week long sports festival was held under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs. Men’s champions took home the winners trophy, and a prize of Dhs150,000 while the women’s champions walked away with   Dhs100,000. Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi, Minister of Foreign Trade, flanked by senior officials, on Sunday evening crowned the champions and the runners-up, at the end of a thrilling final matches which saw the unbeaten Thailand Ladies beating Adams and IGG beating Ground Forces 5-2 in an action-packed match. Sheikha Lubna presented the first three teams of both the men’s and women’s competitions with medals and presented the trophies to the champions, incidentally, both the Thailand Ladies and the IGG teams are annexing the championship trophy for the first time in the history of their participation in the AFOC Sports Festival. In the women’s event, Adams were placed second to receive the silver medal and a cash prize, while debutant AFOC Ladies, took home the bronze medal and a cash prize. Ground Forces received the silver for the men’s event, leaving the bronze for Ministry of Higher Education, who finished third. In a comment, Sheikha Lubna expressed profound happiness for being part of the great event. She said besides being a great source of entertainment, the AFOC Sports Festival also contributes immensely in encouraging the youth both males and females to practice and excel in various sports disciplines. She praised Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak (Mother of the Nation) and President of both the Family Development Foundation and the General Women’s Union, for her unstinting support for women sports and women’s cause, in general. Commenting on his team’s winning of the men’s event, Fadel Saif Al Kaabi, CEO of the IGG said he was full of confidence that his team will win the trophy, particularly after their splendid performance in the early stages of the championship. He thanked the organisers for their professionalism and pledged his team will continue to participate in the championship every year. Also commenting on his team’s achievement, the manager of the Thailand Ladies team Thanapat Ujjin said the 15th AFOC Sports Festival was a great success in all aspects. “This is the biggest prize money we ever got and all our girls played well especially Orathai Sreemanee, who scored the match winner, just two minutes before the final whistle. “We are now preparing for the South East Asian Championship scheduled for November in Indonesia,” said Ujjin, adding that “they will return to defend the title next year.”