MUMBAI: Mumbai City FC has teamed up with Navi Mumbai Area Schools Association (NMASA) to launch the first-ever grassroot football league, commencing today.
The tournament would see over 150 teams from schoolsassociated with the NMASA compete in the U-8, U-10, U-12 and U-14 age categories at the Fr Agnel Sports Complex, Vashi, said a media release here today.
The league will feature matches that make the children play in age specific formats, i.e. 5v5 for the U-8 age group, 7v7 for U-10 and so on, giving them a chance to play more and more matches.
In the league phase, each team is to play a minimum of seven matches, with the top teams from each group going on to play in the knockout stage.
Over 700 matches will be played in total across all age categories and these are in accordance with the guidelines set by FIFA, the release said.
"We firmly believe this high level of competition is a stepping stone to bring the best out of the city's youngsters. With an eye on the future, as we build the franchise at one level, we need to ensure that there is a strong feeder pipeline in place to take the legacy of Mumbai City FC forward," said Indranil Das Blah, CEO of Mumbai City FC.