Blue Tigers' new dens: Gujarat to get international friendly, Chennai may host Champions Cup

THE AIFF IS planning to reach out to new areas of the country to showcase the best of Indian football, and two of the potential venues the Federation is looking at are Ahmedabad and Chennai.

The TransStadia Football Stadium has recently come up near the Gujarat capital, a full-featured picturesque 20,000 capacity football-only arena with all the facilities required to host international matches. There are rumours of a new ISL franchise coming up here soon, potentially owned by the Adani Group. But there was no bid submitted from Gujarat for an expansion team in 2017-18 season.

AIFF, however, still wants to prime the Gujarat crowd for future club football by hosting a match at TransStadia featuring the national team. An official close to the NT's operations told TFG that an upcoming international friendly may be held there. 

India are scheduled to play an international friendly against Palestine on 2nd October, which will be a prime candidate for TransStadia's first international match, since it also falls on Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. There's another international friendly expected to take place in November against Afghanistan.

Chennai, meanwhile, is being considered by AIFF to become a football hub of sorts. And its Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium may get to host the national team soon as AIFF is considering hosting the Champions Cup -- an international tournament meant to replace the erstwhile Nehru Cup -- in that stadium come August. 

The whole affair is still not certain, though, as the AIFF is set to have difficulties securing good teams for the approximately 2-week competition since most countries already have their domestic leagues up and running by August. But the aforementioned official assured TFG that the Champions Cup is a big priority for AIFF. Star Sports, who recently became broadcast partners of the national team, want more content in order to showcase the Blue Tigers on their network, and AIFF believe a cup competition in August is a great way to get the players off the summer rust ahead of the Asian Qualifier match away from home against Macau in early September.

So if all goes well, the Indian football fans will get to see a flurry of matches featuring the Indian national team, with their locations strategically meant to expand the Blue Tigers' fanbase.

Get the latest in the world of Sports, Teams, and Players! Free Delivery to your Inbox.