Karnataka to host U-19 football talent hunt tourney from May 7

Karnataka will host Oorja–CAPFs Youth Under-19 Football Talent Hunt Tournament-2017 under Phase-1 between May 7 and 15 organised by the Border Security Force, STC, Bengaluru.

India is set to host the FIFA Under-17 World Cup for the first time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the BSF to use the opportunity and conduct U-19 football matches across the country to create awareness about the game.

“About 11 million boys and girls across the country will participate in the tournament, while over 12,500 boys and girls under 19 will play more than 1,200 matches over three months in three phases. The tournament would help in selecting promising players to represent India in the Asian Championship,” P S Sandhu, IGP (BSF), told journalists here on Monday.

The BSF will conduct all matches under Phase-1 in Karnataka, Tripura, West Bengal, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan and Andaman and Nicobar islands. Each state will have separate teams for boys and girls. Players will be chosen from these teams to constitute one combined team for Phase-2. A total of 36 teams will play matches under Phase-2. There will be six zones and each zone will have six teams for Phase-2. The top team from each of these six teams will qualify for Phase-3 which will be held in Delhi. Karnataka is grouped in Bengaluru zone, he said.

Rs 50,000 cash prize
“The winning team under Phase-1 will get a cash prize of Rs 50,000, while the runner-up will get Rs 30,000 and the team securing the third place will get Rs 20,000. In addition, there will be trophies and prizes for the best player of the tournament, best goalkeeper and best scorer,” Sandhu said.