BHUBANESWAR: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has confirmed that the Hero Gold Cup will take place at the Kalinga Stadium in the Odisha capital city in association with the state government from Saturday at 7 pm and all its matches will be streamed live on Hotstar.
“Through our collaboration with the AIFF, we have already made Odisha the youth football hub by housing the Under-15 and Under-19 teams in the state. We are also committed to the development of women’s football and our support to the Gold Cup is one of the many things we plan to do on that front,” Odisha sports secretary Vishal Dev was quoted as saying to IANS.
The Hero Gold Cup will be a women’s quadrangular tournament featuring hosts India, Iran, Nepal and Myanmar. India will kick off the competition with their match against Iran. The Indian women’s team is in a four-match winning streak, beating Hong Kong and Indonesia in their previous friendlies.
A win in the final of the Hero Gold Cup on 15 February will give them a tremendous boost ahead of the SAFF Women’s Championship in March and the second round of the AFC Olympic Qualifiers slated to be held in April.
India is ranked 12th amongst the women’s Asian teams in the FIFA world rankings behind Myanmar (9th) and Iran (11th), who are also in contention for the AFC Olympic Qualifiers.
