Age-group school football now a nine-a-side affair

The Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) inter-school football tournaments will now be played in nine-a-side format for the U-8, U-10 and U-12 category

The Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) inter-school football tournaments will now be played in nine-a-side format for the U-8, U-10 and U-12 category.

The decision to change the format was taken after the schools body decided to comply with the rules of FIFA, the world governing body for football.
"Last year, we had approached the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to get ourselves accredited to the national body.

"They (AIFF) sent a circular asking us to follow certain rules since we are promoting the sport at grassroot level. So, keeping the larger interest of the children’s future in mind, we decided to have our lower age-group tournaments in the nine-a-side format," MSSA football secretary Sebastian Fernandes told mid-day yesterday.

"This move will ensure the children playing with us are registered with the AIFF under the Central Registration System (CRS). We have already received a code from the AIFF.

"The CRS will benefit the kids in more ways than one. If AIFF conducts any tournaments or trials they can directly get in touch with the players and call them for the same," Fernandes added.

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