Sunday, Sep 06, 2026 22:00 [IST]
Last Update: Saturday, Sep 05, 2026 16:20 [IST]
GANGTOK,: The 12th Sikkim Inter-Church Gold Cup Football
Tournament 2026 will kick off on September 11 at Paljor Stadium, Gangtok, with
participation from 28 teams from Sikkim and neighbouring regions.
The Sikkim Inter-Church Gold Cup Football Tournament is an annual event
organised by the Sikkim Christian Sports Committee (SCSC).
SCSC president Patrick Pradhan, vice president Bhupal Basnet, general
secretary Pastor Andrew Chettri, joint secretary Passang Thendup Lepcha and
publicity secretary Dinesh Moktan shared details of the upcoming football
tournament at a press meet here on Saturday.
It was informed that the inaugural match on September 11 will feature
Habjeba Prayer Fellowship Church and AFC & AYC (Annjoy). Two matches will
be played daily in this knockout tournament until September 23 at Paljor
Stadium.
The final is scheduled for September 27 and will be played under
floodlights. The organisers are seeking to have Chief Minister Prem Singh
Tamang-Golay as the chief guest.
Besides churches from Sikkim, the tournament will feature two teams from
Darjeeling and one team each from Siliguri and Kalimpong. For the first time, a
team from Meghalaya will also participate in the tournament being held under
the theme ‘Glorify God in Your Body’.
Each team is permitted to include up to five non-Christian players.
The winning team will receive a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, while the
runners-up will receive Rs 3 lakh.
Annjoy Boys are the defending champions of this tournament.
A new addition to this edition is the Kingdom Veteran Tournament,
featuring 16 participating teams, which will be played alongside the Gold Cup
matches.
The Sikkim Christian Sports Committee has appealed to people to come and
witness the matches and encourage the players and teams.
