Shillong, Jul 25: Meghalaya have been drawn in Group B of the Junior Boys National Football Championship (Tier 1) for the BC Roy Trophy 2023-24 where they will face Kerala, West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir.
Meanwhile, the state has also been drawn in Group C of the Sub-Junior Girls NFC (Tier 1) 2023-24 with Gujarat, Assam and Chhattisgarh.
The BC Roy Trophy will be held in Bhubaneswar from 5th to 15th September. It will see 16 teams equally divided into four groups, with the group winners progressing to the semifinals.
The 2023-24 edition will mark the return of the BC Roy Trophy for the first time since the pre-Covid-19 tournament in 2019-20, which saw Mizoram clinch their second successive title after a 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory over Punjab in Shillong. (Meghalaya were semifinalists in that edition).
Meghalaya will first play West Bengal (6th September), then Jammu & Kashmir (8th September) and Kerala (10th September).
The Sub-Junior Girls NFC will also feature 16 teams divided into four groups and the four group winners will move to the semifinals. The tournament will be played from 3rd to 13th September in Amritsar.
Meghalaya will play Gujarat (3rd September), Assam (5th September) and Chhattisgarh (7th September).
Meanwhile, the All India Football Federation has decided to introduce an U-20 NFC for men as well. For the current season, players born on and after 1st January 2005 and not later than 31st December 2007 will be eligible to play. The inaugural championship will be organised in January-February 2024.
(File photo)