AIFF to host under-16 Youth Cup

The All India Football Federation will be organising a youth tournament in Goa to provide exposure to under-16 national squad which is preparing for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

The five-nation under-16 AIFF Youth  Cup will witness teams from United States, South Korea, Tanzania and Malaysia joining hosts India from May 15-25.

All five teams would be playing against each other with the top two making it to the final. All matches will be played at the Tilak Maidan.

 “The whole purpose of the AIFF Youth Cup is to get a sense of how the U-17 World Cup is shaping up. The tournament will provide us further clarity of what we need to improve further,” said AIFF general-secretary Kushal Das.

Goa will also be hosting the AFC under-16 finals to be held from September 15 to October 2, the draw for which is slated to be held in Goa on May 26.

India despite being the hosts had qualified for the finals on merit by basis of their performance in the AFC under-16 Qualifiers in Tabriz in September 2015. The four semifinalists from the U-16 Finals will gain a direct entry to the 2017 U-17 World Cup.