Spanish giants Real Madrid made a request to play in the Subroto Cup but it looks like a lost cause at the moment. Although the officials have not completely ruled out the possibility of the Galacticos participating but for now it is difficult to see them featuring in the tournament.
Air Marshal BBP Sinha, Vice Chairman, Subroto Mukerjee sports education society, informed on Thursday that Real’s request came late so they had little time to do much about it.
"Madrid in the under-17 category contacted us but it was a bit late. So arranging everything in a short span of time like accommodation and other things seemed challenging," Sinha said on the sidelines of the curtain raiser for Subroto Cup which takes places from 11 September to 16 October.
He added that they follow a first come, first serve policy but that doesn't mean that the door is completely shut for Real as he said they are still working to find the best solution for it.
Starting with just around 50 schools participating in preliminary rounds during its launch in 1960, over 32,000 schools across the country have competed for this year's event. "This shows the growing interest among students in the sport," he said.
103 teams have made the cut for the event, including eight international teams and five club squads competing in three categories — under-14 (sub-junior boys) and under-17 (junior boys and girls).
Sinha said involvements of international teams are to encourage the younger players to get a feel of how football is in foreign countries.
Indian Super league club Delhi Dynamos who act as a football development partners will hope to provide better platform for promising young talent in the event.
Prashant Agarwal president of Dynamos stated that with the help of their scouts and coaches they will search for talented players in the tournament.
He added that the best 25 players will be identified and they will be taken-in to offer a good platform for their growth.
Also for the first time in the history of the Subroto Cup, a mascot was launched. Gilloo — a squirrel which is a symbol of agility, sharp reflexes, speed and willpower as they feel that these are the basic qualities one expects from footballers on a field.