For the first time ever, Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) has collaborated with All India Football Federation (AIFF) to promote football at grass root level. As part of this MoU, from this edition onwards, a Subroto XI team will be formed in Junior Boys (U-17) category. The team will participate in AIFF Youth Competition from the 2023-24 season.
Further, clubs from ISL, I-League and IWL will pick up players from Subroto Cup to represent their teams. This will help the players to showcase their talents at National level. AIFF will also promote the Subroto Cup through their annual media plan and calendar. In order to prevent age fraud in the competition, SMSES will conduct age determination tests using experts. To update and educate coaches, an education workshop will be undertaken by AIFF for coaches of final round teams at Delhi and Bengaluru.
The MoU was signed by Air Vice Marshal Alok Sharma, VM VSM, ACAS (Org & Cer) as member, SMSES and Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran, Secretary General, AIFF in a formal function held at Air Force Station, New Delhi. Both the dignitaries expressed happiness at the partnership and were confident of rich dividends for national football in the times to come.
Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) conducts the prestigious Subroto Cup International Football Tournament annually since 1960, under the aegis of Air Force Sports Control Board. This is a unique football tournament wherein school teams from all states starting from grass-root level vie for top honours in football in the country in three categories viz, Sub-junior Boys (U-14), Junior Boys (U-17) and Junior Girls (U-17).
