MoneyGram has launched a unique cricketing concept by taking the Cricket Ke Badshah 2016 tournament into labor camps with the recent introduction of the tournament in Riyadh. MoneyGram will work with labor camps of BACS, Al-Seif and Saudi Oger on this Corporate social responsibility initiative to help develop cricket in the Central Region. This will allow the workers from the subcontinent to participate in a structured tournament and showcase their skills. The T20 tournament, which started on May 6, will see more than 5,000 players in action and thousands of spectators in attendance. The initiative is part of MoneyGram's commitment to develop grassroots cricket in the Kingdom. The winner of each camp will play the winners of the other camps to decide the champion of Riyadh. MoneyGram ambassador, Indian cricket legend Irfan Pathan, will be at hand to award the trophy to the winner following the final on June 3. Ifran is a former Indian player and was a part of the MoneyGram ICC World Twenty20 Trophy Tour in the Kingdom in February. Irfan said: "After seeing the passion for cricket within the camps on my last visit, I am looking forward to being at the final to see the best players from each of the camps playing to be champions of Riyadh. "What MoneyGram is doing for grassroots cricket in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is fantastic as this will help develop them as players and help promote the game further across the Kingdom." This exciting tournament will compliment MoneyGram's association with the International Cricket Council (ICC) where MoneyGram has extended its sponsorship with the ICC for an additional eight years in an agreement that will see the global provider of money transfer and payment services sponsor all tournaments until the end of 2023. "By launching MoneyGram Cricket Ke Badshah in the Labor Camps we are able take the game of cricket to the Subcontinent workers who are passionate about the game," said Andrei Afanasyev, MoneyGram's director of marketing. "This initiative is giving back to the workers a structured tournament that they can either play in or watch over." The tournament is set to see more than 5,000 players in action and thousands of spectators in attendance. "There will also be opportunities for players to win various prizes courtesy of MoneyGram during the tournament," said Maher Haddad, MoneyGram's senior regional director of Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan. — SG
