Santosh Trophy football qualifying matches from Jan 5 to 10

The preliminary round of matches to decide the qualifying teams from South Zone for the Santosh Trophy Football tournament 2017 will be held here between January 5 to 10 next.
Announcing the schedule of matches at a press meet here today, Kerala Football Federation(KFA) General Secretary P Anil Kumar said eight participating teams, including hosts Kerala, are placed in two groups.
Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Puduherry have been placed in Group A while group 'B' comprises Tamil Nadu, Services, Telangana and Lakshadweep.
In the inaugural group 'A' matches on January 5, Kerala will take on Puduherry at 2.30 p m while Karnataka will face Andhra Pradesh in the second match at 4.30 p m, he said. A total number of 12 matches will be played among the eight participating teams and one from each group will qualify for the next stage.

The Kerala team will be announced on December 30 at Thiruvananthapuram, Anil Kumar said.