CHENNAI: Usually, it’s women’s football that has to take a backseat to the men’s game. In Tamil Nadu though, things work a bit differently. The state’s first-ever women’s league will kick off on Thursday morning at the SDNB Vaishnav Women’s College.
There is still no corresponding league for men at the state-level. Even the Chennai Football Association league — thought of as the top tier of men’s football in the state — was not held in 2019. But perhaps that is only normal, considering the dominance that Tamil Nadu has had in the women’s football scene over the past few years. National title, a club from the state winning the national league — you name it, they’ve done it!
The inaugural edition of the women’s league will feature seven teams, with Indian Women’s League champions Sethu FC being the most famous of the lot. The organisers have grander plans for the future.
"We are planning to have double the number of teams next year. We were planning to hold this last year but, unfortunately, we were unable to. It was hard to attract seven teams as we had to look for a window where all the schools and college were closed," said M Seeni Mohideen, who is the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Football Association’s women’s football committee..
The officials have managed to attract sport goods company Cosco as the sponsor of the tournament but Mohideen feels that they could do with more support. “We are not getting much support, but we are managing. We have no support from corporates and the government. The state government, especially, should be supporting a tournament like this.”
The participants will stay at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The first day’s matches will be held at the SDNB Vaishnav Women’s College in Chrompet while later, some of the matches will be held at Nehru Park as well.
“We wanted to take the matches to a women’s college in a bid to promote the game, so we opted to hold matches at Vaishnav College. Hopefully, we will have a lot of women coming and watching,” said Mohideen.
The inaugural match will see Minerva FC take on Tamil Nadu Police, while Thamizhachi FC will face Wow Women. Sethu FC will take on Sethu FA in the late kick-off. The league will go on till December 31, following which it will take a break. After the Khelo India Games in Guwahati is over, the league will resume again.