WITH the EPL Masters Football Tournament Brunei Cup 2012 coming up in April, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) hosted a luncheon at Radisson Hotel for EPL legend and ex-Liverpool Football Club player, John Barnes.

The luncheon was attended by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid Hj Mohd Jaafar, representatives from Ad Sports Event Management (ADSEM), various sponsors of the EPL Masters event as well as selected customers of the bank.

The Jamaican-born footballer is only in the country for three days and will be leaving the sultanate tonight.

In an interview with The Brunei Times, Barnes stated that discipline, commitment and desire are the most important components for success.

The football legend also acknowledged the success of the Brunei Under-21 football team that had won the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy (HBT) 2012 ASEAN Youth Football Tournament recently.

"The challenge is for the football association to create the right environment for its youngsters, but they seem to have done good with the U-21 team. It can be taken a bit further for them (U-21 players) to flourish," said Barnes.

The luncheon ended with a Q&A session, after which, guests were given the chance to take photos with John Barnes.

The EPL Masters will be held at April 21 at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex.

The bank recently launched a campaign for football fans in the Sultanate which is ongoing until April 6.

The first 150 customers to sign up for SCB's Total Salary Solution package together with a credit card will automatically receive a ticket to an exclusive Meet-The-Fans session to meet six of the EPL Masters stars on April 20 at The Empire Hotel & Country Club.

To qualify for the lucky draw, all new and existing customers with either Total Salary Solution, a Fixed Deposit with a Credit Card or a Student Saver account will receive chances to win weekly and grand draw prizes. The Brunei Times