SRINAGAR: Kashmir had virtually no football action in the month of Ramadhan as administrators decided to go for a break keeping in consideration the religious obligations and fitness levels of the players. There were no matches of any major tournaments with Jammu and Kashmir Football Association-the custodians of the game in the state- announcing a month-long break at the start of the Ramadhan.
Now with Ramadhan and Eid festivities over, the JKFA are gearing up to conduct their routine tournaments besides coming up with a brand new tourney that it boasts to be a major attraction this summer.
Post Ramadhan, the action will begin with low profile B Division League next week which will coincide with CRPF sponsored tourney that will see 32 teams vying for the top honour.
We have lot of tournaments lined up this summer. After having off time for a month due to Ramadhan, we want to give players more and more matches to exhibit their skills and passion. We will start with the B Division League. Then we have a CRPF sponsored tournament which will be conducted by the JKFA. We have almost finalized the teams for that, said a JKFA official.
While there will be A and Super Division leagues, the toast of the summer, as per the official, will be newly designed Premier League. The 9-team tournament-to be played on Round-Robin basis-will see top nine teams fighting it out for the title glory.
The participating teams have been finalized by the JKFA. We are pretty confident that it will be a major attraction this summer. All the nine teams are laced with some quality players so we expect top notch football, said the official about the JKFAs flagship tournament.
J&K Bank, J&K Police, Forest XI, Food and Supplies, Lone Star Kashmir Football Club, Maharaja Sports, Iqbal Sports, AG Office XI and Real Kashmir Football Club will be the teams in the action in the Premier League.
Real Kashmir FC, according to the sources, is the latest entrant in the Kashmir Football, which according to the sources, is all set to be the second team from Kashmir to take part in the I-League-one of the premier tournament in Indian domestic circuit. Lone Star Kashmir FC is the first one.
Come August, J&K Police Department in association with the JKFA, according to the official, is planning to organize J&K Police Martyrs Memorial Tournament which will have a massive 120 teams participating in it.
There is a good news for the womens football as well. JKFA is mulling to conduct a ten-team tournament for women which will be hosted by Womens College.
By the look of things, there is plenty of football action in offer for fans but can JKFA be able to walk the talk remains to be seen.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
