[ Prafulla Kaman ]
PASIGHAT, Aug 26: Preparations are underway to conduct the 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship here in East Siang district from 10 to 24 September.
Thirty teams from various union territories (UT) and states and a team from the Indian Railways are participating in the prestigious event.
The teams have been divided into eight groups of four (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) and three (D and H), according to the fixture released by the All India Football Federation.
Arunachal has been placed in Group H, along with Jammu & Kashmir and Telengana.
The inaugural match will be played between the Railways and Mizoram. Arunachal will play their opening match against Telengana on 12 September.
The main venues for the championship are the newly constructed outdoor stadium and the playground of the College of Horticulture and Forestry here, said East Siang District Sports Officer (DSO) Nada Apa.
“The organizers are working day and night for improvement of the playgrounds and in arranging food and accommodation facilities for the players. The district administration and the sports department are giving logistic support,” said the DSO.
Apa said the players will be accommodated in hotels and the outdoor stadium. He said the event will not only provide an opportunity to the players of the state to rub shoulders with some of the best players of the country but also give them a platform to show their talents.
Last month, the East Siang administration had convened a coordination meeting with state and district sports officials and HoDs to chalk out strategies for smooth conduct of the event.
During the meeting, Arunachal Pradesh Football Association secretary Kipa Ajay, it’s state coordinator Orin Lego, DSO Apa, and other sports officials shared their suggestions and views.
Meanwhile, Apa said the matter of inner line permits for the spectators during the championship would be taken up with the district administration.
The participating teams/states/UTs are Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Railways (Group A); Haryana, Bihar, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh (Group B); Tamil Nadu, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (Group C); Delhi, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh (Group D); Odisha, Kerala, Chandigarh and Pondicherry (Group E); Punjab, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand (Group F); Manipur, Rajasthan, Tripura and West Bengal (Group G); and Arunachal Pradesh, J&K and Telengana (Group H).