Wikipedia - Santosh Trophy

The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, due to ties with FIFA (from 2024–25), also known as the FIFA Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the sport's governing body in India. Before the launch of the first national club league, the National Football League in 1996, the Santosh Trophy was considered the top domestic tournament in India. Many players who have represented India internationally have played and gained honour while playing in the Santosh Trophy. The tournament is held every year with eligible teams who are divided into zones, must play in the qualifying round and can progress into the tournament proper. The current champions are Karnataka, who won their title after 54 years during the 2022–23 edition. This was the first trophy for Karnataka, which had previously won four times as the princely state of Mysore, after 1968-69.

The tournament was started in 1941 by the Indian Football Association (IFA), which was the then de facto governing body of football in India. It was named after the former president of the IFA, Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury, the Maharaja of Santosh who had died aged 61 in 1939. The IFA later donated the Santosh Trophy to the AIFF, soon after its formation as the sport's official governing body in India, and since then AIFF has been organising the tournament. The trophy for the runner-up, Kamala Gupta Trophy, was also donated by the then president of IFA, Dr. S.K. Gupta, and it was named in honour of his wife. The third-place trophy, Sampangi Cup, was donated by the Karnataka State Football Association (then Mysore Football Association) and was named so in the memory of a renowned footballer, Sampangi, who was from Mysore. Until 2018, the tournament was organised as an individual competition, but since 2021, the AIFF rebranded it as the men's senior tier of National Football Championship for the regional teams of various age groups. In September 2022, it was announced that the tournament will be organized on zonal basis.

印度桑托什盃是一個在印度舉辦的足球錦標賽。該錦標賽以印度著名的足球運動員桑托什·塞納姆的名字命名,旨在紀念他對印度足球的貢獻。這個比賽吸引了來自印度各地的足球隊參加,包括職業球隊、業餘球隊和學校隊伍。比賽通常在印度的主要城市舉行,吸引了大量的觀眾和媒體關注。

印度桑托什盃提供了一個展示印度足球才華的平台,並為年輕球員提供了一個與其他球隊競爭的機會。這個比賽不僅僅是一個足球比賽,還是一個聚集印度足球愛好者的盛會。觀眾可以欣賞到高水平的比賽,並支持他們喜愛的球隊。

印度桑托什盃的舉辦也有助於提升印度足球的聲譽和發展。這個比賽為印度足球提供了一個國際舞台,讓球員們有機會與其他國家的球隊競爭。同時,這個比賽也吸引了國際足球界的關注,可能會為印度足球帶來更多的投資和發展機會。

總之,印度桑托什盃是一個重要的足球錦標賽,旨在紀念桑托什·塞納姆並推動印度足球的發展。這個比賽不僅僅是一個競技活動,還是一個聚集足球愛好者的盛會,為印度足球帶來了更多的關注和機會。