Tamil Nadu Football Association (TFA) is planning to hold the 29th Champions Trophy, also called the Universal Cup, in June-July this year in the city after the conclusion of the Chennai Football Association senior division league.
The Champions Trophy will witness the top six teams of the CFA senior division league and the winner and runner-up of all the top-tier leagues in all the districts.
The tournament is returning to Chennai after a gap of eight years; the last time it was held here in April-May 2008, it was organised by Netaji SC and sponsored by Cosco India Pvt. Ltd. “We are keen to hold the event in Chennai provided the ground is free at that time. And we have asked all the districts to finish their leagues by May 30,” revealed T.P. Thangaraj, Administrative Officer, TFA.
The TFA is contemplating organising the championship in three venues: Nehru-B practice ground, Nehru Park and Nehru Stadium. The final is slated for the Nehru Stadium.
The previous edition of the event was held in Tuticorin and Kayalpattinam in August 2014-15, which saw 36 teams participate. From Chennai, only ICF and Customs were able to take part while other teams which had given entries such as Chennai FC, AG’s Office and Arrows withdrew due to transfers at that time. The previous time the event was held for women was in 2013 in Coimbatore.
Robin Charles Raja, Tamil Nadu State chief coach said, the tournament is a god-send opportunity for district players to be noticed by private players and government organisations here. “Earlier it was a big motivation for Tamil Nadu players to play in the Federation Cup and rub shoulders with teams like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. It used to be the only big opportunity.”
Robin added that the tournament could see the domination of Chennai teams. “It could be yet another super league.”
