The Minister for Local Government, Housing, Environment, Infrastructure and Transport Parveen Kumar congratulated re-elected Fijian Football Association president Rajesh Patel.

He made the comments during the opening of the 77th Courts Inter-District Championship in Govind Park, Ba yesterday.

“I would like to welcome re-elected officials after the Fiji FA annual congress on Tuesday  re-elected Rajesh Patel as president, and two vice-presidents Tarunesh Reddy and Yogeshwar Singh,” Kumar said.

He applauded the direction Fijian FA was taking in building the sport for the future.

“In recent times we have seen Fiji FA recording its name in the history books,”Kumar said.

“We need to applaud the teams, coaches, and Fijian FA for the achievement, we must give credit to where it is due.

“The results showed promise and provides us with a platform to make sure these appearances are regular and lead to even better and competitive outings.”

He said Fiji would be cheering for the Vodafone Fiji U23 national team for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“Our fans have shown that they will appreciate outings against the best in the world, even if the results do not go our way.”

He congratulated Fijian FA and Courts for their partnership for the last 16 years.

Courts Fiji Limited chief operating officer Hamendra Prasad said they were proud to be associated with Fiji FA in sponsoring the 2015 Courts IDC.

“By far this is the largest tournament in the country and we, as sponsors, are proud to be associated with Fiji FA in hosting this prestigious event for the soccer loving fans in the country and aboard,” he said.

Since its inception in 1938, Courts has  sponsored this tournament for the 16th consecutive year.

“The fans love the Courts IDC because it brings to the forefront, fierce inter-district pride and rivalry.”

Feedback: waisean@fijisun.com.fj