Santosh Trophy format to be followed across all national c’ships: AIFF

Gangtok, Nov 17: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) Executive Committee approved a number of suggestions that were earlier forwarded to it by the Competitions Committee, the first of which was concerning the Senior Men’s National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy.
The Committee decided that the format of the Santosh Trophy will be followed in all other National Football Championships at all age group levels. It was also agreed that the facilities for the players, especially in terms of travel and stay, should be improved with immediate effect.
The AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey chaired it’s Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday in Gangtok.
In the first order of the day, Chaubey suggested that new ideas be brought in for the 2023-24 season of the I-League in order to strengthen the competition. A meeting will be held with representatives from all the clubs, with the venue and date to be decided later.
The Committee decided that the AIFF Masters programme will be discontinued from the following season.
Several other committees were approved by the Executive Committee, in order to look into matters like club licensing, medical matters, legal matters, grassroots, etc.
The legacy competition of Indian Football will be played with the final round having 12 teams (10 qualifying states, along with the Services and the Railways). The EC also agreed with the Competitions Committee’s suggestion that the Hero Senior Women’s NFC Qualifiers be held in December.
It was also agreed that all National Youth Championships should be held between December and May. (IANS)