Subroto Cup International Football Tournament is a prestigious international inter-school
football tournament that is held annually in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...
, India. The tournament held annually since 1960, is named after the
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee
Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee OBE (Bengali: সুব্রত মুখোপাধ্যায়) (5 March 1911 – 8 November 1960) was an Indian military officer who was the first Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Air Force. He wa ...
. It is the oldest national school football tournament in India and was instituted to promote and encourage the sport at the grassroots level in the country,
Students from different countries across
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...
participate in this tournament, making it one of the more noteworthy school-level football competitions.
History
Subroto Mukerjee
Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee OBE (Bengali: সুব্রত মুখোপাধ্যায়) (5 March 1911 – 8 November 1960) was an Indian military officer who was the first Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Air Force. He wa ...
conceived the idea in 1958 when he was the
Chief of the Air Staff. Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society was formed in 1960 after his untimely death in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
. The first tournament was held in 1960, with participation of about 50 school teams. The number of schools participating increased over the years. Since 1998, the tournament is played in two age groups, sub-Junior (under 14 years) and Junior (under 17 years).
Madhyamgram
Madhyamgram is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is close to Kolkata and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).
History
Madhyamgram wa ...
High School from West Bengal has won the U-17 tournament seven times in total, which includes a hat trick of titles in the year 1981, 1982 and 1983.
Organisation
Subroto Cup is conducted by the
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
, with the help of
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is a branch of the Government of India which administers the Department of youth affairs and the Department of Sports in India. Anurag Thakur is the current Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports followed ...
.
Initially it was organized by the
Durand football tournament committee but in 1994, the Air Force Sports Control Board took over the Subroto Cup tournament and has been conducting it since then.
The preliminary inter-school tournaments are held in every
state of India
India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions.
History
Pre-indepen ...
starting from sub-division,
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
and
division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
* Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
level culminating in the inter-school finals at the state level. The school teams, winning the state inter-school championships are then invited to participate in the main Subroto Cup Tournament at
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
.
The tournament is held on a league cum knock out basis system and is played in accordance with laws and rules relating as framed by FIFA and as adopted by the
All India Football Federation
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation.
It is affiliated to Ministry ...
(AIFF) and the
Services Sports Control Board
Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) is a sports board run by the Indian Armed Forces. It was formed in 1919 as the Army Sports Control Board and later renamed to Services Sports Control Board. The board is represented as Services in the Nation ...
. The duration of the game in the league matches is 30 minutes
each half with an interval of 10 minutes. In the event of a draw in the knock-out matches, extra time of 7 minutes each half with one minute's interval is allowed. If a match ends in a draw even after extra time, the game is decided by enforcing the
penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
rule.
Tournament structure
The current tournament structure consists of the preliminary inter-school tournaments at different divisional levels culminating in the inter-school finals at the state level. The winners then participate in the main national tournament.
Venues
The venues for the tournament held at
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...
:
*
Ambedkar Stadium
Dr. Ambedkar Stadium is a football stadium in New Delhi, India. The stadium is named in honour of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, famous social reformer and architect of the Indian Constitution. It was earlier known as
the Corporation Stadium. It also h ...
*
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
*Tejas Football Ground (Race Course)
*Subroto Park
International Participation
School teams from numerous countries have played in the tournament, with the first team reaching the final in 1993 being the Special Sports School from Uzbekistan.
Since then many schools from foreign countries take part regularly, such as Brazil, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Nepal, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan etc.
In the 2015 Championship, for the first time teams of boys and girls came from
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...
for the tournament. Brazilian legend and football's elder statesman
Pele came to India after a gap of 38 years to attend the final of the 56th edition of the Subroto Cup as the chief guest.
In 2016,
Rivaldo
Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo (), is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as ...
and
Roberto Carlos
Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...
were the chief guests at the 57th edition.
Sponsorship
*
All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All ...
*
Canara Bank
Canara Bank is an Indian public sector bank under the control and ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Established in 1906 at Mangalore by Ammembal Subba Rao Pai, the bank also has offices in London, Dubai and New York.
Hist ...
*
Central Bank of India
Central Bank of India (CBI) is an Indian public sector bank based in Mumbai. Despite its name, it is not the central bank of India; The Indian central bank is the Reserve Bank of India.
History
The Central Bank of India was established o ...
*
Cosco
China Ocean Shipping Company, Limited, formerly China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, commonly known for its abbreviated name COSCO Group, or simply, COSCO, is a former Chinese Government owned shipping and logistics services supplier compan ...
*Enerzal
*
LIC
*
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is a branch of the Government of India which administers the Department of youth affairs and the Department of Sports in India. Anurag Thakur is the current Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports followed ...
*
SAI
*
SBI
Results
Junior (U–17) football tournament
The following is the list of winners and runners-up:
Sub–Junior (U–14) football tournament
At the request of the School Games Federation of India, the Subroto Cup organisers started a sub-junior (11-14 Years) football tournament
from 1998. Sixteens teams participated in the inaugural tournament, while more schools took part in the following years. Since 2000, the fairplay trophy for the sub-junior group has been named in the memory of late Lieutenant Sandeep Loomba, who died in a mountaineering expedition at
Abi Gamin
Abi Gamin (also known as Ibi Gamin) is a Himalayan mountain peak mostly situated in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state in India, northeast of Kamet. Its summit is on the border with Tibet and its northern slope is in the Ngari Prefec ...
peak. Fairplay trophy for the junior group, medals and certificates for both the age groups, are provided by the Subroto Society
Girls Junior (U–17) football tournament
References
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*
*
*
*
External links
Official website*
{{Football in India
Football cup competitions in India
Youth football competitions
Youth football in India
1960 establishments in India
Recurring sporting events established in 1960
History of the Indian Air Force