Football: Orpic crowned Bank Muscat champions

Sports Saturday 05/January/2019 14:40 PM
By: Times News Service
Football: Orpic crowned Bank Muscat champions

MUSCAT: Orpic scored a stunning 3-1 victory over Nujoom Oman to lift the inaugural Bank Muscat football championship trophy in the finals witnessed by a large turnout of football enthusiasts at Mina Al Fahal football field. The tournament offering a prize money of OMR8600 came in line with the bank’s vision ‘To serve you better, everyday’ and commitment to partnership in supporting youth and local football teams.
Al Muheet defeated Nujoom Mudhaibi to win the third place in the championship which attracted participation of 20 local teams. The top three teams – Orpic, Nujoom Oman and Al Muheet – won cash prizes of OMR3000, OMR2000 and OMR1000 respectively. Mohammed Al Shibli from Nujoom Oman won the Best Player of the tournament award. Al Muheet emerged the Best Team of the tournament and also won three other prizes for the Best Goalkeeper by Faris Al Ghaiti, Best Top Scorer by Mohammed Al Khaldi and Best Team Administrator by Ziad Al Balushi.
Saleh Al Maaini, AGM – Muscat Region Branches, represented the bank and presented the championship trophy and other prizes to winners. Spicing up the event, Bank Muscat Shababi youth segment conducted a spot prize draw for spectators in which the winner received an iPhone X. Building up the tempo on the concluding day of the tournament, a friendly match was played between Oman Deaf Sports Team and Social Media Influencers, including some national team players.
Congratulating the champions, Saleh Al Maaini said: “Bank Muscat is delighted to celebrate the successful conclusion of its first football championship and we congratulate the champions and all participating teams for giving a boost for Oman football. As the flagship bank in Oman, Bank Muscat leads by example and the hosting of the championship reflects our commitment to promote Oman as a sporting nation. The gesture reiterates the bank’s commitment to offer the required encouragement and support for local teams to put up their best efforts and further contribute to lift the standards of the national game of football to new highs.”
The Bank Muscat football championship offering a total prize money of OMR8600 evoked big response with the games attracting large turnout of football fans supporting their teams. The participating teams displayed true professionalism and the matches turned out to be a big attraction as some well-known players participated in the tournament.
Bank Muscat is a pioneer in supporting the national game of football. In all major tournaments, including the Gulf Cup, Bank Muscat has led by example, being the first private sector institution to announce support for the national team. Bank Muscat aims to strongly convey the message of support to the national teams so as to motivate others to follow suit and provide the required impetus for them to excel in sports and games.
In keeping with the passion for football in Oman, Bank Muscat seizes every opportunity to promote the national game. Central to the bank’s social responsibility initiatives is the Green Sports initiative to promote Oman as a sporting nation in general and football in particular.
Making significant contributions to sustainable development, the unique Green Sports initiative has benefited a total of 93 sports teams across the country to date. The programme has spread across the nation, reinforcing the bank’s leadership role in social responsibility. Marking the eighth year of the unique CSR initiative, the bank will support the development of 15 football fields across the Sultanate in 2019.
The Green Sports initiative benefiting communities, especially youth, is aimed at contributing to sustainable development in Oman. The scope of Green Sports support for sports teams include greening of football fields with natural or synthetic turf, floodlights or water desalination equipment in areas facing problems of water salinity. Ensuring wider representation, the Green Sports support is extended to develop sustainable sports infrastructure in all parts of the Sultanate. As the nation’s leading financial institution, Bank Muscat aims to provide the impetus for youth to excel in all arenas and thereby contribute to the development and progress of Oman.