The Nagaland Futsal Club Championship will be held in Tseminyu district for the first time, with 10 teams competing for the state title and a national berth.
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Our Correspondent
KOHIMA — The fifth edition of the Nagaland Futsal Club Championship will be held in Tseminyu district for the first time from June 18 to the 20th, with ten teams competing for the state title and a berth in the national-level tournament.
Announcing the championship during a press briefing at the Nagaland Football Association (NFA) office in Kohima on Friday, NFA officials informed that the matches will be played at Riga's Astro Turf, New Terogvunyu, Tseminyu.
NFA president K Neibou Sekhose said the tournament is a state-level championship that also serves as the qualifier for the national-level competition.
He noted that futsal is growing rapidly in the state with facilities being made available across Nagaland and described the sport as a platform for developing football talent.
Sekhose appreciated Tseminyu district for coming forward to host the tournament, stating that it would be the district's first time hosting a state-level football event. He said the facilities and preparations were in place as required for the championship.
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He also said the tournament is recognised by the All India Football Federation and informed that all matches would be telecast.
The champion team will receive a cash prize of INR 1 lakh, while the runners-up will be awarded INR 50,000.
NFA joint secretary Chenonlo Woch informed that the tournament would be conducted on a league-cum-knockout format.
He said district football associations were this year required to organise district-level tournaments to determine representatives for the state championship. According to him, nine district football associations conducted qualifying tournaments and selected teams for the state event.
As host district, Tseminyu was permitted to field an additional team, bringing the total number of participating teams to ten.
Woch added that the winners of the championship would represent Nagaland at the national-level tournament next year.
The ten teams have been divided into two groups.
Group A comprises RN Boys (Dimapur), Vanguard FC (Tseminyu), Aphuyemi FC (Zunheboto), Vanguard Academy (Tseminyu) and TRS FC (Tuensang).
Group B comprises Ipuing FC (Peren), SC Nagaland (Mon), Legacy FC (Wokha), Aspirants FC (Kohima) and CTYC (Chümoukedima).
Football Association Tseminyu District technical director Hethanglo Kath appealed to football enthusiasts to attend the matches and said the association was making every effort to successfully host the tournament.
The inaugural programme is scheduled to begin at 3 pm on June 18 with Advisor to the Chief Minister Abu Metha as the special guest and MLA Jwenga Seb as the chief host.
Meanwhile, responding to questions regarding the reported sale of alcohol during a recent sporting event at the Chümoukedima Football Stadium within the Police Complex, Sekhose termed the incident "unfortunate".
He said the NFA had not permitted the sale of alcohol and added that investigations by various agencies were underway. He also assured that the association would take steps to ensure similar incidents do not occur in the future.