Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed officially launched the HDC Youth Futsal Cup 2017 presented by Renaatus this evening.

Minister was accompanied by Housing Development Corporation’s Managing Director Mohamed Saiman and Managing Director of Renaatus Projects Pvt Ltd Manoj Poosappan.

The opening ceremony started with a countdown initiated by Minister Saeed, followed by confetti and Boduberu performances. The first match was played between Naavaidhoo Veterans and FC Vikings, whereby FC Vikings won the match 3-2. The man of the match was Adam Ali of FC Vikings. The tournament is expected to last for approximately 15 days.

HDC Youth Futsal Cup 2017 is the first tournament of its kind to be arranged in Hulhumale’ by Housing Development Corporation. With 108 teams taking part in this Cup, this is also the largest futsal tournament ever in Maldives so far. Each team consists of 12 players and 5 officials, and hence, a total of 1836 youths will be involved in this tournament. Teams from Greater Malé region and other islands will be playing in this tournament.

Housing Development Corporation as the entity entrusted with the development of Hulhumalé, gives priority to ensure community development and engagement takes place effectively in order to make Hulhumalé a city with engaged and empowered residents- especially its youth population.

Under the Corporate Social Responsibility function, HDC believes that it should play a vital role in challenging the energy and passion of Maldivian youth into productive activities that will provide a safe and supportive environment for them to grow as a community through play and sports. Aligning with the broader aspects of community engagement practices at HDC, this futsal cup aims to create a friendly environment and a platform for networking, community building and instill values of sportsmanship amongst the participating youth.

The prize money for Champion team is MVR 80,000 while Runner-up will receive MVR 40,000 and Fair Play MVR 20,000. The partners of this tournament includes Renaatus as the title partner of the tournament, Sonee Sports as the sports partner, Dhiraagu as Telecom Partner, Avas as the Media Partner and Coca Cola as beverage partner. Additional partners include Maldives Police Services, Aasandha Hulhumalé Hospital, Ensis Fisheries, Muni Homecare, City Group of Investments, Veliga, Damas, Amin Construction, The Manhattan Fish Market, Copier Plus and Biome. While Football Association of Maldives arranged referees for the tournament, Ministry of Youth and Sports provide benches for the tournament.

HDC aims to hold the tournament annually.