By IANS,
New Delhi: Defending champions India will open their Nehru Cup campaign against Lebanon in the inaugural match at the Ambedkar Stadium here Aug 19.
The five-nation tournament will now be played in a round robin format after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) rejected the entry of Palestine, which was sending a junior team for the international tournament.
A top AIFF official told IANS that India will take on 160th ranked Kyrgyzstan Aug 22, and will meet neighbours Sri Lanka Aug 25. India will face last year’s runners-up Syria Aug 28.
The top two teams will qualify for the final slated for Aug 31. The draw will be made public Friday.
India coach Bob Houghton was happy with the number of participating teams.
“We will start with Lebanon and with five teams, we will get at least four matches to play in the round robin league. It will give us more exposure. And I can assure you that all the teams are good,” he said.
Sponsors ONGC said the winners will receive a prize money of $40,0000 while runners-up will get $20,0000. The man of the match in every game will get $300 and teams will get $500 for winning every match.