CHENNAI: The Champions Cup invitation international football tournament will be held at the SDAT-Nehru Stadium here tentatively from August 18 to 27. Host India, Afghanistan, Malaysia and St. Kitts & Nevis are expected to take part.
The ground work for the tournament has already started and it is reliably learnt that International Management Group (IMG) has hired a firm to lay the greens, the same one which does the laying of grass for Chennaiyin FC in the ISL.
It is understood that the tournament will be conducted in a league format and the two teams with the most number of points will contest the final. There will be one match each every two days followed by a rest day.
“There will be one match each on Aug. 18 and 19, followed by a break and then two matches on Aug. 21 and 22. There will be six matches in total followed by the final on Aug. 27,” said a source.
Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, Kushal Das, secretary, AIFF, said the objective of holding the tournament is to prepare the National team.
“We used to have the Nehru Cup (1982-2012). Now with Hero coming on board as the sponsor, we are keen to host 10 to 12 international tournaments for the national team. My only hope is that public will throng the stadium to watch the matches,” he said.