The All India Football Federation (AIFF) kicked off the inaugural AIFF U15 Women’s Youth League today at the Sporting Planet Sports Complex in Belagavi, Karnataka. This is the federation’s first national club and academy tournament exclusively for under-15 female players. Sixteen teams from nine states and union territories are competing in the 17-day championship, which runs until the final on 31 October.
Action in Group A and Group B is underway today across morning and afternoon sessions. The opening Group A fixtures pair Goa’s SESA Football Academy against Maharashtra’s Krida Prabodhini Pune, while Delhi’s HOPS FC take on Bengaluru’s Roots FC. In Group B, Kolkata’s Juba Sangha FC face Maharashtra’s Project Mahadeva FC, and 2018-19 Indian Women’s League (IWL) champions Sethu FC meet PFC Kerala.
Tournament format and eligibility rules
The 16 participating sides are split into four groups of four for a single round-robin stage. Every team will play three group matches across staggered matchdays between today and 24 October. After a rest day on 25 October, the top two sides from each group will advance to the quarter-finals on 26 and 27 October. The semi-finals are scheduled for 29 October, with no third-place play-off before the championship decider.
All 31 matches are taking place on a single artificial turf pitch at the Sporting Planet Sports Complex in Mahantesh Nagar, with local organisation handled by Belgaum United Football Academy. To be eligible, players must be born on or after 1 January 2012 and registered through the AIFF Centralised Registration System. Squad verification requires birth certificates registered within five years of birth, alongside medical screening or bone-age radiography where required.
The line-up brings together private clubs, residential academies, and state-funded teams. Group B features Project Mahadeva FC, a grassroots scholarship programme launched by the Government of Maharashtra in December 2025 with support from the JSW Foundation to train selected under-13 players across 36 districts. Goa’s two entrants also represent contrasting training setups.
SESA Football Academy runs a corporate residential centre in Sirsaim backed by Vedanta, while Group D’s Portais Sporting Club works with public coaching centres run by the Goa Football Development Council. Also in Group D, Chhattisgarh’s RKM Football Academy enters a residential squad of indigenous tribal players from Narainpur in the Bastar region.
Building a national youth pathway
Before this year, national competitions for young girls in India were mostly limited to school tournaments like the Subroto Cup and short inter-state championships. While the men’s youth system has run under-13, under-15, and under-17 leagues for several seasons, young female players often played fewer than 10 competitive matches a year.
The under-15 tournament follows the launch of the AIFF U17 Women’s Youth League in July 2026. Together, the two leagues give clubs a structured pathway linking grassroots football to the senior Indian Women’s League and IWL 2.
Registering players at age 13 and 14 under the federation’s central system also establishes training compensation rights, helping senior clubs like HOPS FC and Sethu FC protect their academy investments. This youth expansion comes weeks after the AIFF signed a 15-year commercial partnership with Capri Sports on 22 September to manage and market the top two tiers of senior women’s club football.,
Matchday 1 continues tomorrow as Groups C and D get underway. Chhattisgarh’s MGM Ambush Club will play Mumbai’s Community FC India at 08:30 IST, followed by DKR Football Academy against Gujarat’s SAG Football Academy at 10:30 IST. In the afternoon session, Portais Sporting Club will face Mumbai Knights FC at 13:30 IST before hosts Belgaum United take on RKM Football Academy at 15:30 IST.
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