International Indian School Jeddah Alumni Association (IISJAA) launched its third edition of its most sought after flagship sporting event with a premier touch. This season of the league has been branded as IFPL, "IISJAA Football Premier League (IFPL)". The IFPL kicks off Thursday at 7:15 p.m. at the Kaki football ground beside Saudia City, Khalediyah Street. With Saudi Gazette as the title sponsor, SMS Solutions, Digital Ways, Indomie, FRiENDi mobile, MIX FM are supporting the event. The tournament is scheduled to run for 8 weeks with three matches each being played on Thursdays and Saturdays. "Growing up in Saudi, it is inevitable that most of the Alumni love football. Hence an event like this gives the IISJAA fraternity an opportunity to participate in competitive football," said Suhail Mehdi, president of IISJAA. "With IFL becoming IFPL, the competition has just become massive as we have more teams and new players participating this year. Further, we have grown from being a tournament to a brand — a brand which has been sponsored by the top Saudi newspaper Saudi Gazette," added Mohammed Ameenuzzaman, executive committee member of IISJAA. The launch of the IFPL was officially held on Oct. 30 — Captains Meet Day, hosted by the executive committee. The event was attended by the captains and vice captains of the 11 teams participating this year. The teams are: Friends United (defending champion), Spartans, Catalonia, Desi Starz, Never United, Athletic Alliance, Gladiators, FC Legends, FC Brothers, EFS FC and FC Bavarians. Organizing committee members Ameenuzzaman, Atif Khan, Mohammed Zamaan Ahmed and Mehdi briefed the captains about the format of the game and the rules and regulations. This was followed by an open Q&A session and unveiling of participating team's kits.
