This will be the first instance when two age group based pan India League will be played simultaneously in the country. The U18 I-League is already in progress in different parts of the country.
I-League Clubs along with the 2nd Division Clubs will participate in the Youth League which will also see teams of Youth Academies like Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools and many others across India compete for the top prize.
In all 40 teams are participating and have been divided into 6 Zones based on their Geographical Location. The Zonal Groups are as follows:
1. Kolkata-Jamshedpur
2. Guwahati-Shillong
3. Maharashtra
4. Goa
5. Delhi-Chandigarh
6. Rest of India
In the Zonal Phase, the teams will compete in Home and Away basis and top two team from each group will qualify for the next round where they will again be divided into two groups. The top two teams from these groups will qualify for the semi finals, the winners of which will compete for the ultimate prize.
The long awaited Youth League will be a shot in the arm of Grassroot development of Indian football, which will finally have a proper tournament to give necessary match practice to the budding footballers at an early stage of their lives and also prepare them mentally for the rigours of professional player.
With India set to host 2017 U17 FIFA World Cup, this league can be an ideal set up for India U17 team Coach, Nicolai Adam to scout new talents for his team in order to prepare a good squad for the event.
Though AIFF's biggest headache in this would be preventing the teams from fielding over-age players. With age frauds prevalent in Indian Football, if AIFF is unable to bring about a mechanism to identify Over age players, then the whole idea of League is bound to fail.
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