The Kashif and Shanghai Organisation has renamed its annual football tournament in tribute to the late proprietor of the Bakewell Company Naeem Nasir, who had been one of their main sponsors over the years.
This year’s tournament is now officially called the “Brother Naeem Nasir/Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament.”
The announcement was made on Tuesday at Bakewell’s head office, at Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara in the presence of acting General Manager (GM) of the company Rajindranauth Ganga, who handed over a cheque for an undisclosed amount to the organisers for this year’s tournament.
Co-organiser of the tournament Kashif Muhammad told reporters that Bakewell has been one of the tournament’s main sponsors for many years and the renaming is their way of expressing gratitude towards the company for the support they received during that time.
“He was a generous giver,” Muhammad said of Nasir, adding, “More than that, he was a man who always targeted worthy causes. He would always give to causes that shaped and influenced people’s lives and what is remarkable is that he asked for nothing in return for himself.”
Muhammad added that sport was one of those causes and Nasir and his company has always been close to Kashif and Shanghai. Apart from his support for the tournament, he said Nasir supported the Bakewell Topp XX football team for the past 15 years. The Buxton Football Club and the national team, the Golden Jaguars, also benefitted from his generosity, Muhammad added.
Meanwhile, Ganga stated that the company will still be sponsoring the annual tournament, since this is what Nasir would have done. He further thanked the organisation for keeping the company in its thoughts, while adding that he and his colleagues are most pleased to be on board for this year’s tournament.
