AIFF to bring top European clubs for a tournament next year

New Delhi: In an initiative to raise football profile in the country, All India Football Federation

is planning to bring top European clubs, including Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United, for an eight-team tournament in July next year. Delhi and Kolkata are likely to host the matches -- four games each -- with the final to be played at the revamped Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the Capital. Liverpool and FC Porto are also expected to be part of the tournament, with a club from the Middle East and the winner of the I-League completing the line-up. A final decision on the eight teams -- except for I-League champions -- will be taken in a meeting in November, a top AIFF official said. Modi Fabrics, a Mumbai-based company, with whom the AIFF had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), will coordinate the event. "Yash Kohli of Modi Fabrics will be coordinating the event," the official said. "The tournament is to be held in July and some European clubs are likely to be part of it. An MOU, in this regard, has already been signed with Modi group," he said. "Things like fixtures and logistics related to the tournament will be discussed in the November meeting," he added. European clubs, including Manchester United and Arsenal, have been investing in Indian market for some time now in some way or the other. The Red Devils inked a five-year deal with Airtel last year, through which its customers get exclusive content, such as video clips of premiership matches, UEFA Champions League highlights and wallpapers of popular United players. Premier League giants Chelsea had recently said that they are closely watching the Indian market to find like-minded corporate partners. "We want to enter the Indian market with grassroots level engagement. Chelsea FC does not want to come to India just to play a match as we are committed to development of football in this country," Ben Wells, Chelsea head of marketing, said while speaking at the International Football Arena round table here. PTI