Chandigarh football cup set to return next Jan after two-year gap

Missing from the city’s sporting calendar for two years, the UT Administrator’s All India Football Challenge Cup is set to return in 2026. The annual event, which was cancelled at the eleventh hour last year, will now be held from January 20 to 28.

One of the major tournaments hosted by the UT Sports Department, the Cup was earlier listed for September and November this year, but was pushed on both occasions.

Several teams, which remained stationed here and underwent medical examinations before the 2024 event, had to return empty-handed after the tournament’s last-minute cancellation.

It was the first such instance in the tournament’s 19-year history. The controversy arose after a parent moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) seeking medical test of players.

Hearing the plea, the HC had ordered that ossification tests be conducted on all players in absence of the Tanner-Whitehouse 3 (TW3) medical assessment, which the organisers were unable to complete.

Whether the department conducts the TW3 test this year is uncertain at this point. For this particular test, the teams may be called ahead of schedule. The department could also change the rules, allowing only players that already cleared the TW3 or ossification test.

As per the set practice, a medical board consisting of doctors, experts and coaches is set up to examine the players. The invitational boys’ Under- 17 tournament is not directly affiliated to the All India Football Federation and was introduced by General Sunith Francis Rodrigues, the then Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, to encourage footballers.

Meanwhile, the UT Administrator’s Badminton Cup announced to last year is also likely to be delayed. The championship was earlier scheduled for December 2024, but was postponed to January 2025 amid legal complications that arose during the Football Cup. It is now expected to be delayed further.

Unlike football, the department had planned to invite two top-ranking players from different states to Chandigarh to compete in singles, doubles and mixed doubles (for both U-14 and U-17 age groups) categories under the Badminton Association of India (BAI) banner.