Kerala football news

Nehru Cup 2009: AIFF announces teams

The 14th edition of the Nehru Cup will take place at Delhi this August.

As the champions India look to retain their title they will have to face competition from other five teams vying for the ONGC Nehru Cup.

Apart from India, national teams from Syria , Lebanon ,Thailand ,Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka have confirmed their participation in this tournament hosted by petroleum major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC), to be organized at Dr. Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi.

To provide international exposure to Indian players, the AIFF started the Jawaharlal Nehru international tournament in 1982. Uruguay won the inaugural Nehru Cup in 1982 beating China 2-0 in the final. Till 1989 this tournament was held annually and since then biennially.With ONGC pitching in as sponsor, the Nehru Cup is being revived after a decade.

As an auspicious coincidence, on the 60th anniversary of India’s Independence, the tournament named after India’s first Prime Minister is being held in the Capital for the first time. ONGC conceived this international tournament in 2006, inviting nations where ONGC Videsh Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of ONGC looking after overseas business) operate.

The previous version of the tournament saw India pulling off a 1-0 victory over Syria to lift their first ever ONGC Nehru Cup.India received the winners’ prize of USD 40,000.

Bhutia-led Indian football team is currently on tour at Barcelona after a short tour at Dubai, conditioning themselves ahead of the tournament to be held next month. NP Pradeep is the only representative from Kerala in the national squad.

The tournament commencing on 18th August shall have the six teams contesting in two groups of three each.The top two of each group shall qualify into the semi finals and the eventual finals shall be held on 30 th August at the Dr.Ambedkar Stadium , New Delhi.