Diamond jubilee edition of Subroto Cup to attract record participation

The diamond jubilee edition of the Subroto Cup football tournament will attract a record participation of 112 school teams, including 16 from abroad, the organisers said on Wednesday.

Asia's biggest youth football tournament will kick off in the capital from August 20.

The teams will be vying for the winner's prize in the sub junior boys (U-14), junior (U-17) boys and girls categories.

Group captain Deepak Ahluwalia announced that as the Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society is celebrating its diamond jubilee edition this year, the prize money for the winners and runners-up teams in all three categories have been enhanced by Rs 50,000.

The best player and best goalkeeper's prize money has been increased from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000.

The winners, apart from Cup, will get a prize money of Rs 3,00,000 for the sub-junior and Rs 4,00,000 each for junior boys and girls. The runners-up in sub-junior boys category will walk away with a cash prize of Rs 1,75,000 and Rs 2,50,000 each for junior boys and girls.

At the launch function held at the Air force Station New Delhi, Air Marshal P P Bapat was the chief guest. Former India women's team captain Dalima Chibber was present as guest of honour.

The tournament is being organised by Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society under the aegis of Air Force Sports Control Board and is supported by the Union Sports Ministry, Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Sports Authority of India.

The Ambedkar Stadium will host the knockout games, including the semi-finals and finals, while the round robin matches will be played at other grounds across Delhi and NCR.