Santosh Trophy: Knockout stages to witness use of VAR

This will be the first time that VAR will be used in Indian football.

The knockouts of the 76th edition of the Santosh Trophy are set to be held in Saudi Arabia from 01-04 March. VAR (Video Assistant Referees) will be used for the first time during the semi-finals and the final. Punjab, Meghalaya, Karnataka, and Services progressed to the knockout stages. The AIFF (All India Football Federation) adopted a new format for the tournament that saw the removal of the qualification stage, thereby allowing all the state teams to participate in the group stage.

The Federation signed an MoU with the SAFF (Saudi Arabia Football Federation) on 06 October 2023, which included an agreement to host the semi-finals, the 3rd place decider and the final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The preliminary stage was contested by 36 teams which were divided into six groups of six teams each. The six group winners, along with the three best runner-up teams qualified for the final round along with Railways, Sevices, and Odisha (host). The 12 teams were further divided into two groups of six teams each. The top two sides from each group progressed to the knockout stage. Meghalaya made it to the knockouts for the first time in the history of the Santosh Trophy, defeating top sides like West Bengal and Delhi. 

Punjab and Services look like the favourite to make it to the final. The former has finished both the preliminary and group stage on the top spot whereas Services joined the tournament in the final round. It is being reported that the match officials officiating the knockouts will be from Saudi Arabia (Federation). Matches will be live-streamed on Fan Code App and DD Sports.

Schedule

Semifinals

01 March

Punjab vs Meghalaya (05:30 PM)

Services vs Karnataka (09:00 PM)

04 March

3rd place playoff (05:30 PM)

Final (09:00 PM)