The 2007 Subroto Cup football tournament will begin at the Ambedkar Stadium here on September 14 with Delhi’s Government College Co-education Senior Secondary School (Tikri) taking on Hmar Veng High School (Kolasib, Mizoram) in the opener. Over 66 school teams, including six from overseas, would vie for honours. United Arab Emirates would participate for the first time in the tournament, which will also feature teams from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Malaysia.The tournament will begin with the junior event in which 32 teams have been divided into eight groups. The sub-junior event will begin on September 30 with 29 school teams sending in their entries. The sub-junior final will be held on October 15 and the junior final a day later. In the 2006 edition, schools from Nepal won both the titles leaving Indian schools to settle for the runners-up spots.
"We are working closely with All India Football Federation to get a school team from Brazil to play against the champion team in exhibition match," said J N Burma, Air Marshal and air officer-in-charge administration. The tournaments would be played in two categories, junior (Under-17) and sub-junior (Under-14) level.
Prize money has also been doubled for this year's tournament.
"The champion team and runners-up in the junior category would get Rs one lakh and Rs 50,000 respectively and teams under sub-junior category would get Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively," Burma said. "A selection committee will select around 30 outstanding players from both the categories and scholarships of Rs 10,000 and 5,000 will be awarded to them," he added. PTI
