CALCUTTA, May 2: The Celebration Cup, the qualifying rounds for the McDowell Cup football tournament, will be played at various centres in West Bengal from May 4. The winners of the 44-team meet will qualify for the main event, the curtain-raiser for the next season.The 44 teams have been divided into 11 groups. The groups have further been divided into six clusters, the first five having two groups each. The cluster champion will be decided through a play-off between the group winners.
The next round will be played on the knock-out format with Tollygunge Agragami joining the fray. The eventual winners will be the qualifiers for the McDowell Cup. The winners will get Rs 30,000 wile the runners-up will receive Rs 15,000. Each team will also be given a participation fee of Rs 500.
The teams for the league matches will comprise four from the districts and the rest will be Calcutta-based clubs. Matches will be played at venues like Bankura, Bishnupur, Baruipur, Batanagar, Asansol. The knock-out phase willbe held at Cooch Behar.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
