Government offers MVR1 million reward if national team reaches AFC Cup semi-finals
15 May 2014, 7:35 PM
Ahmed Rilwan
President Abdulla Yameen has offered a MVR1 million (US$64,850) reward to the national football team if they make it to the semi-finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup – scheduled to begin in the Maldives next week.
Speaking at a special function held last night for senior government officials to meet the team, Yameen expressed his desire “to make sports into something which transcends politics.”
“And for Maldivians the king or queen of sports is football,” he said.
The President’s Office has confirmed this amount will be paid by the government but did not comment on how it would be acquired or whether it be taken from the national budget.
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