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What's the story?
The Goa Professional League is set to start in September this year and will run well into 2018, but the league has freed itself of any matches on days games of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup are scheduled in Goa.
At the Managers' meeting of the GPL yesterday, a few key decisions were taken, one among which was related to the Under-17 World Cup.
Reports coming out of yesterday's meeting quoted a GPL club manager as saying: "Matches [of GPL] will not be held when the U-17 World Cup games are scheduled in Goa."
The context
The Under-17 World Cup is scheduled to start on 6th October and will run until 28th October. The Fatorda Stadium in Margao will host nine matches at the World Cup, with teams like Germany and Iran set to come down to the coastal state during the group stage.
The GPL is a seasonal affair with as many as 11 teams playing in the 2016/17 season which Salgaocar won. This year, the start of the season will be delayed until September, a departure from the usual August kick-off.
The heart of the matter
Among the key decisions taken in the Managers' meeting yesterday, the schedule for the upcoming season was decided as well as the rule for foreigners. A maximum of two foreigners per team will be allowed.
Since the GPL will run well into the next calendar year and will overlap with the Under-17 World Cup, its schedule has been made as such that during the nine days Goa hosts a World Cup match, there will be no GPL games.
What's next?
The World Cup starts on 6th October and Goa will stage its first FIFA World Cup match a day later. Germany and Costa Rica will kick off proceedings in what promises to be a sellout affair. That aside, the Fatorda Stadium will host World Cup matches on 10th October, 13th October, 17th October and 21st October.
Author's take
Considering the popularity of the GPL, the decision to not schedule any matches during the days Goa hosts a World Cup match is a considerable effort by the decision-makers to attract Goan football fans to the Under-17 World Cup.
With Germany and Brazil among the teams, Goa is poised to welcome later this year, albeit age-group ones, football fans in the state need not worry about GPL games during World Cup matches.
