Chandigarh Football Association (CFA) president KP Singh on Thursday said that the association has decided to conduct the state championship for various age groups and the dates will be announced within a week.

Aimed at unearthing grassroot level talent in football from across the country, the India Khelo Foundation in association with the CFA will kick off the campaign by holding a city finale for Chandigarh kids on Saturday.

CFA president KP Singh said that online registrations for the event are currently underway at a cost of Rs 100 per player and there will be two categories for boys (Under 14) and girls (Under 16).

“I was excited to see that someone shares the same vision of developing Indian football at grassroot level and that made me think that Chandigarh kids should be the first ones to grab this opportunity. We are very glad to have partnered with India Khelo Football and support their vision to create an international platform for all the deserving kids who are passionate about football,” Singh said.

”Allowing the players to play abroad is like taking the next big step in the Indian football scenario. I hope all the very best to all the players and also to India Khelo Football,” he added.

Post the Chandigarh finale, there will be multiple tournaments covering Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu, and Kashmir in the northern zone and many more cities from other zones whose dates will be announced based on local conditions.

The city winners will again compete in a knockout match in their zonal capital. The top two teams from each zone will then head to Mumbai for the national finale to be played on October 15.

The top performers in the national finale will then be picked for an exposure trip to Europe to begin their professional football journey.