New Delhi: MS Dhoni-owned Indian Super League(ISL) club Chennaiyin FC have just hit another milestone in their short history. The club which is also owned by Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan have been quite successful ever since their inception. They reached the semi-finals of the inaugural edition of the ISL and have since won the tournament twice, once in 2015 and once in 2018. They have just achieved a big milestone at the grassroots level of football, something which will be seen as a huge boost to Indian football at that level.
The club’s Under-12 side will represent India at the prestigious Norwich City Mina Cup in UK where they will compete against the under-12 teams of European heavyweights Liverpool and Inter Milan. Other top sides like Chelsea, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund will all be taking part in the tournament which takes place on October 12 and 13 at Championship side Norwich City’s training ground.
When the ISL started in 2013, one of the biggest areas that they wanted to develop was at the grassroots level of Indian football and Chennaiyin FC’s involvement in this tournament is a huge step in that direction. It also marks a partnership between Chennaiyin FC and Norwich City FC, who have been a Premier League side as recently as 2022. Their long term partnership will create avenues for growth and development and both clubs will work together to help them both, on and off the field.
This tournament will also provide the young players of Chennaiyin FC’s U-12 side some invaluable international exposure as they get to test themselves against elite opposition and hone their skills. The tournament will feature 16 teams including some of the biggest clubs in the world like Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Leeds United, SL Benfica, Feyenoord, and Rotterdam. Chennaiyin FC will be the only Indian side at the tournament.
Our U12’s have a massive weekend ahead of them! 🫡🙌🏽#AllInForChennaiyin pic.twitter.com/KKHZRRvIKq
— Chennaiyin F.C. (@ChennaiyinFC) October 10, 2024
The club was delighted on participating in the Norwich City Mina Cup UK with the club’s vice president, Ekansh Gupta saying that they are “excited to send this promising Chennaiyin FC team to compete against some of the world’s top clubs.” He also expressed his gratitude towards Norwich City, commenting “We are grateful to Norwich City FC for this opportunity and are eager to continue strengthening our partnership in all areas moving forward.”
This will be a nine-a-side tournament which will also act as the only qualifying event for the 2025 Mina Cup in the UK, a tournament that is considered as one of the best youth competitions in the world. Chennaiyin FC have been drawn in Group 4 alongside English side Liverpool, Italian outfit Inter Milan and UAE’s Empire Football Club as all teams are divided in groups of four.
The group stage of the tournament will see each team play three games, one against each team in their group and the top two would advance to the Gold Cup while the other two will advance to the Silver Cup. The Cup phases will include another group stage with three more games. They will then compete in tow games basis their standings till that point, which will ensure everyone has played eight games and help in the concrete development of all players. The highlights for the same can be seen on JioCinema.
Chennaiyin FC’s traveling squad to the UK
A team of 15 members representing Chennaiyin FC flew to England late on Wednesday, accompanied by the entire coaching staff.
FULL SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Seram Ronaldo Meitei and Mohamed Nabil
Defenders: Rohit Tenshubam, Ningthoujam Thouba Singh, J Ryan Fabio, Abheer Hemant Jadhav, Ishan and Hitaansh Dipesh
Midfielders: Punshiba Ningombam, Meet Yogesh Satpute, Yaikhomba Oinam, W Lydian Mardona and Prakhar Dhar Khatri
Attackers: Nepolian Laikhuram and Uziyan Susai.
Indian Super League side Chennaiyin FC will be competing at the prestigious tournament in England where they will get a chance to compete against other top European sides. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
