£2 Million Poud Carrot for Winners of SPL

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Old Firm duo in race for £2m pre-season Spain cash prize

By Stephen Mcgowan Last updated at 2:34 AM on 19th February 2009

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Celtic and Rangers have been handed an additional £2million carrot in the battle for this season's SPL title.

The champions will land an invitation to a pre-season tournament in Spain, featuring a raft of top clubs.

Organisers of the 2009 Peace Cup have confirmed the participation of Real Madrid, Juventus, Sevilla, Porto and Lyon in the 12-team event.

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Celtic

Celtic celebrate their SPL title success two seasons ago and a repeat this year will see them earn an additional £2m pre-season incentive in Spain

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Liverpool and Ajax, plus top sides from Ecuador and South Korea, have also been invited to participate.

And, with a £2m winners' prize on offer, Scotland's champions are set to be offered a ticket to the event in Andalucia from July 24 to August 2.

Rangers manager Walter Smith

Title call: Walter Smith will be hoping his side challenge for the prospective £2m title carrot

The tournament overlaps with the Champions League second qualifying round - heightening the pain of the SPL runners-up, who will miss out on a potentially huge windfall before a competitive ball is kicked next season.

Peace Cup spokesman Michael D'Arcy said: 'The Peace Cup wants the SPL winners to take part.

'Celtic are in the driving seat but we will have to wait until the end of the season to see what happens.

'Discussions are taking place with both clubs but nothing has been contracted. I believe both are talking it over with their head coaches.

'The prize money is attractive but we believe it will be the biggest world-wide club competition.'

This year will mark the first time the tournament has been played in Europe, having previously been staged in South Korea.

The games will be held at five different venues: Jerez, Malaga, Huelva, Seville and Madrid.