By Libya Herald reporter.
Gharyan, 24 June 2015:
Libya may be divided politically but not when it comes to one of the important . . .[restrict]things in life for many Libyans: football.
The Jebel Nafusa town of Gharyan which has been linked to Libya Dawn but has been reaching out to its political opponents, notably its chief adversary Zintan, has decided to build bridges this Ramadan that Libyans from different sides can easily relate to. It has organised a national football championship involving 32 teams from various parts of the country – although practical considerations such as transport mean that most are from the west.
The final will be before Eid.
“The idea of ??the tournament came about because of what is being experienced and witnessed by the country – the state of war and the tension in the streets. It is also a response to the loss of sporting activities in the country in general,” said Ahmed Ragab, a member of the tournament’s organising committee.
In fact it is not quite football, more futsal – the reduced version of the game played indoors with, in this case, eight players a side.
It kicked off last Sunday evening, with the first game in Gharyan, whose club is organising and supervising the competition along with a group of sponsors.
The 32 teams have been split into eight groups for the first round, then there will be quarter finals, semi finals and then the final, with almost all the matches in Gharyan. To ensure the tournament finishes before Eid, there are two games every day.
