In an unprecedented move, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is planning to hold the knock-out stages of the Santosh Trophy National Championships in Saudi Aabia early next year.

AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey and Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with their Saudi Arabian counterparts to “study the possibility to stage the final stages of the Santosh Trophy” in the West Asian country in February 2023″.

“The idea is to host the knock out phase of Santosh Trophy in select cities of Saudi to encourage State level players to dream big and also to connect large Indian community in Saudi with Indian football and create a win-win situation for both the Federations,” the AIFF said in a release.