Hyderabad will host the final rounds of the 78th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy, for the first time in over five decades (57 years), the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has confirmed. (More Football News)
The last time Hyderabad hosted the tournament was back in 1966-67 when Railways defeated Services to be crowned the champions.
Telangana have also received a bye to the final rounds as hosts.
Services and Goa, the winners of the nine groups and the finalists of last season will play in Hyderabad.
The group stages are scheduled to take place in November.
Group A: Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab.
Group B: Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi.
Group C: Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bengal, Bihar.
Group D: Assam, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Tripura.
Group E: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram.
Group F: Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha.
Group G: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Andaman & Nicobar.
Group H: Kerala, Pondicherry, Lakshadweep, Railways.
Group I: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Rajasthan.
The final rounds of the tournament are tentatively scheduled to start in the first week of December.
