Swami Vivekananda U-20 National Football Championship: Format, fixtures, venue and more

The Swami Vivekananda U-20 National Football Championship kickstarted on 12 April.

The All India Football Federation introduced a new U-20 Men’s National Football Championship with the goal of filling a large gap in the youth structure pyramid between the U-17 Youth League and Santosh Trophy. 

The championship will be the latest addition to the AIFF’s calendar for the year 2023-24 and will be known as the Swami Vivekananda U-20 National Football Championship. It is scheduled to begin in April 2024 and will take place at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh.

On that note, let us take a look at everything you need to know about the Swami Vivekananda U-20 National Football Championship.

Teams

32 state associations will participate in the inaugural edition of the championship. The teams have been divided into eight groups of four teams each.

Group A: Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Manipur

Group B: Chattisgarh, Pondicherry, Goa, Delhi 

Group C: Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Ladakh 

Group D: Kerala, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat 

Group E: West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Tamil Nadu

Group F: Rajasthan, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Maharashtra  

Group G: Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh 

Group H: Sikkim, Telangana, Bihar, Andaman and Nicobar

Venue

All the matches will take place at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh.

Eligibility

For the current season, players born on and after January 1, 2005, and not later than December 31, 2007, will be eligible to play.

Fixtures

Phase 1

Apr 12 – West Bengal vs Tamil Nadu (07.30), Uttarakhand vs Punjab (15.30)

Apr 13 – Uttar Pradesh vs Ladakh (07.30) ,Karnataka vs Jharkhand (15.30)

Apr 14- Tamil Nadu vs Uttarakhand (07.30) ,Punjab vs West Bengal (15.30)

Apr 15- Ladakh vs Karnataka (07.30),Jharkhand vs Uttar Pradesh (15.30)

Apr 16- West Bengal vs Uttarakhand (07.30), Punjab vs Tamil Nadu (15.30)

Apr 17- Uttar Pradesh vs Karnataka (07.30), Jharkhand vs Ladakh (15.30)

Apr 19- Group E winners vs Group C winners QF1 (07.30)

Phase 2

Apr 21 – Chandigarh vs Manipur (07.30), Himachal Pradesh vs Odisha (15.30)

Apr 22- Sikkim vs Andaman & Nicobar (07.30),Telangana vs Bihar (15.30)

Apr 23 – Manipur vs Himachal Pradesh (07.30),Odisha vs Chandigarh (15.30)

Apr 24- Andaman & Nicobar vs Telangana (07.30),Bihar vs Sikkim (15.30)

Apr 25- Chandigarh vs Himachal Pradesh (07.30),Odisha vs Manipur (15.30)

Apr 26- Sikkim vs Telangana (07.30),Bihar vs Andaman & Nicobar (15.30)

Apr 28- Group A winners vs Group H winners QF2 (07.30)

Phase 3

May 2 – Chhattisgarh vs Delhi (07.30), Pondicherry vs Goa (15.30)

May 3- Kerala vs Gujarat (07.30),Haryana vs Andhra Pradesh (15.30)

May 4- Delhi vs Pondicherry (07.30),Goa vs Chhattisgarh (15.30)

May 5 – Gujarat vs Haryana (07.30), Andhra Pradesh vs Kerala (15.30)

May 6- Chhattisgarh vs Pondicherry (07.30),Goa vs Delhi (15.30)

May 7- Kerala vs Haryana (07.30),Andhra Pradesh vs Gujarat (15.30)

May 9 – Group B winners vs Group D winners QF 3 (07.30)

Phase 4

May 11 – Tripura vs Arunachal Pradesh (07.30),Madhya Pradesh vs Assam (15.30)

May 12- Rajasthan vs Maharashtra (07.30),Mizoram vs Meghalaya (15.30)

May 13- Arunachal Pradesh vs Madhya Pradesh (07.30),Assam vs Tripura (15.30)

May 14- Maharashtra vs Mizoram (07.30),Meghalaya vs Rajasthan (15.30)

May 15- Tripura vs Madhya Pradesh (07.30),Assam vs Arunachal Pradesh (15.30)

May 16- Rajasthan vs Mizoram (07.30),Meghalaya vs Maharashtra (15.30)

May 18- Group G winners vs Group F winners QF 4 (07.30)

May 20 – Semi Final 1 — QF1 VS QF2 (07.30), Semi Final 2 — QF3 vs QF4 (15.30)

May 22 – Final SF1 vs SF2 (15.30)

Telecast

TBD

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