Malda: National level sub-junior football tournament kicks off

malda: The Sub-Junior Boys’ National Football Championship Tier-1, 2023-24 organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) kicked off in Malda on Sunday. It was held at the District Sports Association (DSA) ground in Malda.

The tournament will span from September 3 to 13 in Malda and Berhampore in Murshidabad district. The opening match was played between Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya where the former defeated Meghalaya with a score of 5-1.

The tournament will see 15 teams divided into four groups in a single round-robin format. The four group winners will then play two semi-finals on September 10. The two teams that win the semi-finals will play the final match on September 13 in Berhampore.

The Hero Sub-Junior National Football Championship is a national level inter-state championship for boys under the age of 16, which started in 1977.

All affiliated state units of AIFF are eligible to participate in this championship through the qualifying round which is played across the country.

Debabrata Saha, a member of the district Sports Association and Secretary of the West Bengal Sports Federation, said: “15 states of the country, including Bengal are participating.”

According to the rules of the competition, the states are divided into four groups. Group A has Meghalaya, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Group-B has Bengal, Goa, Haryana and Manipur. Group-C consists of Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha and Mizoram. Group-D consists of Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Gujarat.

Group A and C games will be played at Malda DSA ground. The B and D groups will play matches in Berhampore, Murshidabad. Out of the two semi-finals one (A and C group) will be held in Malda and the other in Berhampore (B and D). The final match will be

played in Berhampore.