Jamshedpur, Jul 12: Fifth Edition of Tata Group Community Football Tournament will kick off at Baraghat in Musaboni block of East Singhbhum district on Wednesday, July 13.
The round-robin tournament will be played over 48 locations across five districts of Jharkhand covering all blocks and panchayats of East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharswan and locations where Tatas have mining operations, such as Bokaro and Dhanbad, Biren Bhuta, Chief of Corporate Social Responsibility of Tata Steel, said.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Bhuta said, Around 25,000 players and 1500 teams will participate in the two-month long tournament which aims to spot football talent in the state.
All the 48 locations will host 15 matches each for under-15 and Open category.
Mukul Choudhury, administrator of Tata Football Academy said, 500 under-15 players will be selected based on their performance in the tournament and then shortlisted to 50/60 players under the supervisions of qualified coaches including from Tata Football Academy (TFA).
Choudhary informed that of the 50/60 players, they had a plan to field an under-15 team in the All India Football Federation-sponsored I-league this year.