Swami Vivekananda NFC U-20 2024: Pondicherry vs Goa Live

The inaugural Swami Vivekananda U20 Men’s National Football Championship began on Friday, April 12, 2024, at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Sports Complex, Narainpur, Chhattisgarh.

A total of 32 states are participating in the championship, the final of which will be played on May 22. In the opening match on Friday, West Bengal will take on Tamil Nadu in Group E. All matches will be streamed live on the Indian Football YouTube Channel and TGS Live.

The U20 Men’s National Championship is a unique addition to the AIFF Calendar since an inter-state meet in this age group has never been played before. The championship will be held at the sprawling Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh, which has an in-house full-fledged football pitch, training facilities, and a residential area.

Emphasizing the need for hosting a U20 Men’s tournament, the AIFF President, Mr Kalyan Chaubey, had earlier said: “We felt the need to have the competition in Under 20, to put the building blocks in place for our footballers’ gradual progression into senior competitions, and to create a pipeline for Asian Games U23 selection.

“The U20 group competition is very crucial in a player’s life cycle to step into a professional career. With the U20 competition back in recognition, the youth structure slabs from Sub Junior to Santosh Trophy get completed,” he said.

Apart from the newly introduced U20 championship, the AIFF also holds two other men’s age group competitions, the Junior NFC and the Sub-Junior NFC.

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