Three national-level women's football matches to be held at Kanchenjunga Stadium

 Those associated with the sports arena – the second largest football stadium in Bengal after Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Calcutta – said it has been almost seven years since a national-level football match was held here

TT, Siliguri, 19.10.24 : The Kanchenjunga stadium at Siliguri: Picture by Passang Yolmo

Three football matches of the National Women’s Football Championship will be held at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri from Saturday onwards.

Those associated with the sports arena – the second largest football stadium in Bengal after Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Calcutta – said it has been almost seven years since a national-level football match was held here.

Gautam Deb, the mayor of Siliguri, said the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has allotted three soccer matches of the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy of the championship at the stadium.

“The Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad (the subdivisional sports body) has been assigned with the responsibility to host matches of the national women’s football tournament. Jharkhand, Telangana, and Mizoram are the three teams that will participate in group matches here from October 19,” said Deb, who is also chairman of the organizing committee that will host the tournament.

Sources said all three matches will be played under floodlight and will start at 6pm.

On the first day, Mizoram will play against Jharkhand. Telangana will face Mizoram on October 21 and Jharkhand and Telangana will have a face-off on October 23.

“The entry is free. We hope football lovers will congregate at the stadium to watch the matches,” Deb added.

“After a long time, football matches of a national level tournament will be organized at the stadium. We have prepared the necessary infrastructure within a short period and hope the AIFF will let us host more such matches in the future,” said the mayor.

Mohun Bagan and East Bengal played at the stadium here in an I-League match in 2017.

In the past year, the Siliguri Municipal Corporation has renovated the stadium including the players’ changing rooms and rooms of match commissioners and referees on war footing for the upcoming matches, sources said.