National Football Championship
The semi-final and final matches of the national football championship Santosh Trophy were played on March 1 and March 4 at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In which Karnataka ended the wait of 54 years and won the Santosh Trophy National Football Championship. This was the 76th edition of Santosh Trophy. Robin Yadav of Karnataka was selected as the 'Player of the Championship'.
Sunil Kumar, Beckley Oram and Robin Yadav scored the goals for the winning team. Runner-up Meghalaya's goals were scored by Brolington Warlarpih and Sheen Stevenson Sphktang. Karnataka last won the National Football Championship in 1968–69 as Mysore.
This is the first time since 1941 that the Santosh Trophy was organized at six venues. The final round of the Santosh Trophy consisted of 12 teams divided into two groups. The matches were played on a round-robin basis with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals.
About Santosh Trophy:
Santosh Trophy is a state level football tournament. Under which the state teams associated with the All India Union and the teams of government institutions participate. Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body for the organization of football games in India.
In 1996, before the introduction of the National Football League, the Santosh Trophy was considered the top domestic title in India. The tournament was started in the year 1941 by the Indian Football Association (IFA), named after the former President of IFA, Sir Manmath Nath Roy Chowdhury who was the Maharaja of Santosh which is now a part of Bangladesh. The runner-up trophy is called the Kamla Gupta Trophy, named after late Dr. S.K. Gupta, wife of former President of Football Association of India.