LAHORE, Nov 22: Eight zonal teams are taking part in the NBP-Punjab football championship to be held at the Punjab Stadium from Wednesday to Sunday.

NBP regional operation chief Mohammad Iqbal said at a press conference on Tuesday that the bank had given Rs 200,000 as sponsorship for the tournament besides awarding trophies and shields to the top teams.

To a question, he said that the bank would follow the policy of the government regarding giving permanent jobs to players. He said at present the bank was awaiting the policy.

He said that the bank had decided to promote different games at grass roots level and intended to sponsor such events every year and added it would consider inviting all the 34 districts of the Punjab to the next edition.

He said that the participating teams are Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Gujranwala and Multan. The first round will be held on knockout basis. The top four teams will play each other on single league basis.