ADMINISTRATOR’S CUP Chandigarh, September 20 Chandigarh Football Association will start their campaign in the 17th All-India Administrator’s Challenge Cup against ARA FC, Ahmedabad, on the opening day of the tournament here on September 22. Hosts Chandigarh Football Academy will play their tournament opener on September 23 against SAG Football Academy, Gujarat. A total of 18 teams divided into four pools will participate in the nine-day long tournament, the UT Sports Department said here today. Notably, this year the tournament will be held in the U-14 age-group instead of U-17 category. “We have decided to organise the tournament for the U-14 age-group this year,” said Tejdep Singh Saini, Director, Sports, UT Administration. He said the move was aimed at “uplifting the sport at grass-roots level”. “The city is having vast infrastructure and the visiting teams will be provided with the best of the facilities,” Saini asserted. The matches will be played at the Sector 7 Sports Complex, Sector 42 Football Stadium and Sector 46 Sports Complex and the winner will take home a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh. The team finishing second will pocket Rs 1 lakh, while the side claiming third spot will be richer by Rs 75,000. “This is the only invitational tournament of the country, which offers such a huge award for the winners. The tournament will witness over 60 matches, wherein over 250 players will showcase their talent,” he added. To discourage teams from fielding over-age players, participants will be subjected to age verification tests. The tests will be supervised by a team of government doctors along with experts of the UT Sports Department. “We have taken special measures to spot age fraud and a team found guilty of fielding overage players will be debarred from the tournament as per the AIFF rules,” said Saini.

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