Federation Cup 

Established in 1977 by the All India Football Federation, Federation Cup is the first key competition involving the clubs. It is the most prominent tournament after the National Football League. It is played in a knock-out basis. 

The 28th Federation Cup for the year 2006 will be held in Kolkata between 19th and 30th Dec 2006 at Salt Lake Stadium. The Peerless Group will sponsor the event and it will be called the "Peerless Federation Cup". The official partner for broadcast is Zee Sports.

The clubs taking part in this edition of the Peerless Federation Cup include Mahindra United , Sporting Club de Goa , Kingfisher East Bengal , Mohan Bagan , Dempo Sports Club, JCT , Mohammendan Sporting, Air India , Churchill Brothers, Salgaocar Sports Club, HAL, Vasco Sports Club , Chirag United , Army XI , State Bank of Travancore and Viva Kerala. The 16 teams are divided into four groups on the basis of their last year's performance. 

Matches line-up:

18th Dec: Mahindra United vs. Chirag United and
Vasco Club and Mohamedan Sporting

19th Dec: JCT Mills vs. Salgaocar SC and
Army XI vs. Sporting Clube de Goa

Dec 20: East Bengal vs. State Bank of Travancore (SBT) and
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) vs. Dempo Sports Club

21st Dec: Air India vs. Churchill Brothers; Viva Kerala vs. Mohun Bagan
22nd Dec: Quarter-final I and II
23rd Dec: Quarter-final III
24th Dec: Quarter-final IV
26th Dec: Semi-final I
27th Dec: Semi-final II
29th Dec: Third place play-off
30th Dec: Final

For any further information, please visit: http://www.the-aiff.com/ .