New Delhi, May 24
The AIFF's Competition Committee met virtually on Friday under the chairmanship of Anilkumar Prabhakaran, as per a media release by AIFF.
In attendance were AIFF Acting Secretary General M Satyanarayan, members of the Committee, K Neibou Sekhose, Hiren Gogoi, Harjinder Singh and Mohd Shahid.
Welcoming the members, Prabhakaran said, "The 2023-24 season had been very active and we were able to organise several men's and women's national championships in all age groups. In addition to the existing tournaments, we also introduced the U20 Men's National Football Championship for the first time, which turned out to be a huge success in Chhattisgarh. We expect the coming season will bring us bigger successes on the domestic front which will culminate into positive results in the international arena."
The Committee which discussed at length on some of the eligibility criteria for participation in National Championships recommended that permanent residents of a Member Association will be allowed to represent the same, subject to completion of three years of residence in the MA territory supported by valid documents.
The Committee recommended that a maximum of four outstation players be allowed to be registered by an MA for the National Football Championships (NFCs).
The Committee further proposed that the newly introduced U20 National Football Championships which recently concluded will henceforth be organised on a tier-based format.