Federation Cup: Odisha to host India's premier knock-out tournament in May

New Delhi: The Federation Cup, Indian football's premier knock-out club competition, will be held in Cuttack from May 7 to May 21, and the event will feature the top eight teams from the I-League.

"The Hero Federation Cup will be played in Cuttack, Odisha. It will kick off on May 7 with the final slated for May 21, 2017. The top 8 placed teams from the Hero I-League 2016-17 standings will be playing for top honours," the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said in a statement following its executive committee meeting here today.

Aiming to take Indian football forward, AIFF president Praful Patel said hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup is a "huge responsibility" on their shoulders.

Patel chaired a meeting of the executive committee.

Welcoming the new members to executive committee, Patel said: "We have a very important and exciting year ahead of us. There are lots of competitions in 2017 which includes the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 as well. It is a huge responsibility on us as we intend to take Indian football forward.

The chairman of local organising committee, FIFA U-17 World Cup, added, "The focus at the moment has to be on the U-17 World Cup and the Mission XI million."

The committee applauded Patel's gesture of donating USD 200,000 for players benevolent fund and USD 100,000 for the AFC social development reform programme.

The committee congratulated the national team for its 3-2 victory against Cambodia in an international friendly last night.

Patel said: "I would like to place our appreciation on record for the coach, the players and the support staff. It was nice to see Sunil (Chhetri), Jeje (Lalpekhlua) and Sandesh (Jhingan) score the goals. Congratulations."

"We face a tough challenge against Myanmar and the AIFF has been arranging for international friendlies to help the team prepare better," he added.

Abhishek Yadav, COO, India U-17 team apprised the committee about the preparation under new U-17 Coach Luis Norton de Matos.

Savio Medeira, acting technical director AIFF, gave an update on coach education, the change in the definition of grassroots, academy accreditation and home grown players. The committee also ratified the proposed baby league.

The AIFF decided to implement a state ranking system which is to be introduced as per the performance of the state associations relating to all aspects of the game.

The committee also approved all the AIFF standing committees and judicial committees unanimously.

Meanwhile, the three-year calendar for AIFF national competitions was also approved by the executive committee. The venues for all the competitions would be decided on a rotational basis.

Relating to the pending Haryana elections, the committee decided that the elections be held at the earliest but not later than two months. A three-member committee of AIFF will be set up to oversee the elections.