BANGALORE: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Coca-Cola announced the launch of the third edition of the Coca-Cola Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (CCMIHT) 2011.
Mir Iqbal Hussain was the former President of the Karnataka State Football Association.
When the late AT Vijayarangam instituted the Federation Cup for top clubs in Indian in 1977, it was his idea to have a tournament for young players on the same match days as they could see the seniors in action, learn and get inspired.
This tournament is a grassroots level initiative which would identify young football talent by offering them a chance to be a part of the National Under-16 Football Team.
This year, the tournament is estimated to witness participation from 40,000 young footballers from 2500 schools across 76 cities in 27 states.
The inaugural match of this edition of the tournament was played between Rosary School and Vibgyor International School in Baroda.
This is part of Coca- Cola India’s commitment to create a sporting culture in the country by promoting a healthy and active lifestyle.
According to Kushal Das, General Secretary, All India Football Federation (AIFF), “Sporting events such as this, provides young footballers with an opportunity to showcase their talent and to be a part of the India Under-16 Football Team.
We have received an overwhelming response over the last two years and we are thrilled to take this nationwide tournament to the next level.
We are working towards providing the right infrastructure and training facilities to the youth and our partnership with Coca-Cola India is a boost to our plans.
We believe that this tournament will play an active role in encouraging youngsters to adopt football as their preferred sport.” According to Anupama Ahluwalia, VP-Marketing, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia, “With Coca-Cola Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy, we are committed to nurture potential football superstars of tomorrow by providing them with a platform and an opportunity to develop their inherent talent into a real-life profession.
We are a Company with a worldwide focus on football and believe in promoting a healthy, active lifestyle.
We believe that Indian football has huge potential and by supporting AIFF for this tournament, we are tapping young football talent to train them according to International football standards.” This is an annual grass root level football tournament organised by AIFF since 1977.
Players born on or after 01-01-97 will be eligible to participate in the tournament.
The initiative aims to discover budding football talent in the country and prepare a strong Under-16 Indian Football team.
This year, the tournament will be played across 75 cities tapping over 40,000 young footballers from 2500 schools.
The tournament will be played in the following format: Stage I (District & State Level): The tournament will begin with Inter-School tournaments at a District Level.
This would be followed by a competition or a skill trial among talented football players organized by the various District Football Associations.
District level teams will then compete within their State, where the State Football Association will select a team to represent the respective state at the Regional level.
Inter-State Tournaments would be held in five regional rounds.
Stage II (Zonal Level): 27 state teams will compete with each other across four zones- (a) North East, (b) South (c) WEST (d) East and (e) North.
Top two teams from each zone will then advance to the national level.
Stage III (National Level): Ten teams from the zonal level will then qualify for the national level which will be played at New Delhi in December 2011.
In the end, two teams will play the National Finals with the winners lifting the ‘Coca-Cola Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy’ 2011.
During the Stage III¸ AIFF talent spotters will identify and short-list 40 promising young footballers who would be coached and groomed to form the National Under-16 Sub-Junior Team.