Sports dept to organize prestigious Padmajong Football tournament at Kailashahar after 9 years

After a gap of nine years, one of the biggest football tournaments in the North Eastern region—the prestigious Padmajong Football tournament, is set to return at the Kailashahar College Stadium.

With the efforts of Sports Minister Tinku Roy, a high level meeting for the preparation of the tournament held at the Circuit House of Kailashahar and as the news of the tournament’s revival spread across social media, excitement has surged among football lovers and residents of the entire Unakoti district.

The Padmajong Football Tournament was last held in 2016. On the initiative of Minister Tinku Roy and at the call of the Unakoti District Football Association, a detailed meeting was held on Wednesday afternoon at the Circuit House in Kailashahar to chalk out the roadmap for organizing the tournament.

Besides Minister Tinku Roy, Unakoti District Football Association President Arun Saha, Unakoti Zilla Parishad Sabhadhipati Amalendu Das, DM of Unakoti, Dr Tamal Majumdar; Kailashahar Municipal Council Chairperson Chapala Rani Debroy and former MLA Mabswar Ali and other officials were present in the meeting. Representatives of the Tripura Football Association, including Vice President Shubhenjit Sinha, Joint Secretary Tapan Saha, Rajib Paul, and coach Subhas Bose, were also present.

Later, speaking with media persons, Minister Tinku Roy said that if everything goes as planned, the Padmajong Football Tournament will begin on January 31 at the Kailashahar College Stadium. The opening match will be played between the Tripura women’s football team and the Assam women’s football team, and will be held at night. Prior to the inaugural match, a grand laser show and captivating cultural programmes will be organized.

All other matches of the tournament will be played in the afternoon, and spectators will be able to enjoy the games by purchasing tickets. The minister further said that teams from West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur are expected to participate. Teams from the state police, BSF, CRPF and sports schools will also be invited. Organizers expect participation from 16 to 20 teams.

While, ahead of the tournament, renovation and improvement works will be carried out at the Kailashahar College ground. The stadium will be attractively decorated, and the entire Kailashahar town will be adorned with flags and festoons. Minister Roy also emphasized that the prestige and legacy of the Padmajong Football Tournament would not be compromised under any circumstances, and all necessary steps would be taken to further improve the tournament.

He added that Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha may attend the final match and the Sports department has also decided to invite former Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia to grace the opening match.