On the occasion of the Lakhe Jatra festival, the third edition of the Taplejung Gold Cup is starting from Saturday at the Bhanujan Secondary School ground in the headquarters, Fungling. In the inaugural match, the organizers are competing between Tellok Sporting Club Taplejung and The Young Brothers Club of Sunsari Ithari.

Tellok, which participated on behalf of the organizers, has brought in two foreign players, Fofona and Samuel, and signed six players including Jeevan Gurung, Sanjay Shrestha, Rupesh KC. They are playing from different clubs while the rest of the players will be from the district. Pravesh Basnet of Threestar, Shishir Chaudhary of Police Club, Ramesh Rajwanshi of Itahari, Yogen Karki, Sanjay Dhimal, Yuvraj Thapa, Nishan Thapa Magar and others will play from Brothers Club. 

The president of the club, Arjun Bhattarai, has said that Tellok, which is about a day's walk from the headquarters of Fungling, is aiming to reach the final for the first time by playing for the host. He said that six players who played in A Division and the rest from Taplejung have been prepared for that. Itahari's coach Samarpan Magar also claimed that they will win the opening game and make a strategy after that. The second match of the first round will be played between Sahara Club Pokhara and Red Star Football Club Jhapa on Sunday. The team of Pokhara's Sahara Cabal has also reached Taplejung on Friday. The third match of the first round will be between Legend Football Academy Siliguri India and Churchboys Club Kathmandu, while the last match of the first round will be between Salhesh Yuva Club Siraha and Fidim Sporting Club Panchthar on July 27. 

Eight teams from Bagmati, Gandaki, Madhesh Pradesh, India and Koshi Pradesh will participate. In this year's competition, all new teams are entering the field except last year's runner-up Salhesh. The winner will receive 7 lakh 2 thousand 82 and the runner-up will receive a trophy, medal and certificate along with 3 lakh 50 thousand 82 rupees. A Yamaha bike will be awarded to the best athlete in the category. Sagar Maden, chairman of the Lakhejatra Steering Committee informed that the highest scorer, best forward, new Udayaman, best goalkeeper, best defender, best midfielder and best coach will be awarded at the rate of 15,000. Those who become man of the match every day will receive a prize at the rate of 7,000. 

The ticket price for the matches up to the quarter finals is 100 rupees, 200 rupees for the semi-finals and 250 rupees for the finals. The organizers said that children under 10 years old and senior citizens will be allowed to enter the ground free of charge. Players and referees are insured at the rate of one lakh. The organizers have informed that a referee team of eight under the leadership of Shyam Danuwar will enter the field to conduct the competition. Organizers estimate that 64 lakh rupees will be spent on the competition. The final match will be held on July 31.