The once famous football tournament, Eagle Trophy, is being revived as a platform to give new thrust to soccer which is very popular throughout Arunachal Pradesh.
The fourth round of Eagle Trophy knockout tournament is scheduled to begin at Rajiv Gandhi stadium at Naharlagun, near here, from March 01, Arunachal Pradesh Football Association (APFA) president Takam Sanjoy said here on Monday.
The Nabam Tuki government has taken steps to organise sports and games competitions right from village to state-level and adopted a sports policy offering incentives for recognised players including job reservation.
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Sanjoy, a Lok Sabha member and an ace footballer, said that the APFA has taken tangible steps to bring discipline among players and clubs so that state players could carve a niche for themselves in the national and international arenas.
He said that the APFA planned to introduce competitive soccer so that the state could take part in regional, zonal and national events.
The winners of the tournament will enter the second division national league matches and get opportunity to qualify for higher leagues.
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Players will be selected during the tournament for training with incentives for improving their skill to represent the state at various soccer events, he said.
The AAFA will conduct the tournament under the chairmanship of Kipa Takam, a former footballer, Sanjoy added.