65th Subroto Cup International Football Tournament begins in New Delhi

• The 65th edition of Subroto Cup International Football Tournament commenced at Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi on August 19.

• Featuring 108 teams in three categories, Junior Girls (U-17), Junior Boys (U-17), and Sub-Junior Boys (U-15), the tournament is divided into eight groups per category. 

Important points on Subroto Cup:

• Subroto Cup International Football Tournament is a prestigious inter-school football tournament that is held annually in New Delhi. 

• The tournament is named after the first Indian Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee.

• Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society was formed in 1960 after his untimely demise in Tokyo. 

• The first tournament was held in 1960, with participation of about 50 school teams. 

• The initial editions were organised by the Durand football tournament committee. In 1994, the Air Force Sports Control Board took over the Subroto Cup tournament and has been conducting it since then.

• Till 1997, the tournament was conducted only for Boys U-17 category. In 1998, Boys U-14 category was introduced. 

• To further the prime objective of the society to encourage soccer in the country, the tournament has been extended to Girls U-17 category since 2012.

• Teams from Brazil, Australia, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Switzerland, Sweden, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Israel, Bhutan, UAE, Indonesia and Uzbekistan have participated in this tournament in the recent past giving it an international stature.

• Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society was conferred with ‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar’ for development of sports by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in 2016.