Dharan Football Club (DFC) is set to organise the Budha  Subba Gold Cup from February 3-10 as one of the oldest knockout football tournaments of the country returns to Dharan Stadium in its 20th edition.

The organisers have been holding the tournament at the Anfa Technical Centre for the last five years but after the completion of Dharan Stadium’s reconstruction the tournament returns to the place from where it all started. DFC on Tuesday informed that it has begun the preparations for the tournament. “We are glad to announce that we are into two decades of this tournament. This tournament has a rich history in Nepali football and has helped a lot in producing national-level players. The club has long been struggling in terms of finances but there have been a lot of helping hands which helped us in giving continuity to this tournament,” said DFC President Kishor Rai.

The 10-team tournament will include two foreign invitees—Kolkata and with Dhanmundi Club of Bangladesh. Other teams include Nepal Police Club, Nepal APF, Manang Marshyangdi, Sankata, Three Star, National U-19 team and hosts DFC. Dhanmundi are the 2001 champions.

NPC are the defending champions having beaten Sankata in the 19th edition. The champions will get Rs 501,000 and the runners-up will take home Rs 251,000. The best striker, goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, coach, highest scorer, emerging player will get Rs 25,000 each. The player-of-the-tournament will ride home a motorcycle and every man-of-the-match will get Rs 10,000. The estimated costs of the tournament is Rs 5.3 million.