There may be uncertainty over the popular Jamshedpur Sporting Association (JSA) football league for men but a fixture for girls is on the cards.

Officials have planned a tournament for girls next month or October to mark the platinum jubilee year of JSA football league (for men). The platinum jubilee of the league was last year but the celebrations could not materialise in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The JSA league again looks like a non-starter due to the Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the state government and the JSA managers are keen to conduct a football fixture for girls at the landmark JRD Tata Sports Complex.

"We are seriously planning to organise a tournament for girls. But the fixture would go ahead only after the government lifts the restrictions which bar conduct of body contact games. But we are hopeful the government would relax the restrictions. In that case, we would organise the tournament for girls next month or in October," said JSA secretary Avinash Kumar.

He added that they don’t want the platinum jubilee celebrations to again become a blank affair this time.

JSA officials said the JSA football league (for men) is a lengthy fixture, which stretches for over a month, and they can wrap up the girls’ event in two-three days.

“We can conduct the girls' event on a knock-out basis with the participation of eight teams, '' an official said.

Around 80 matches are played in the annual JSA league (for men), one of the oldest sporting fixtures in the country, and as many as 44 clubs and institutions are part of the event.

Even if the state government relaxes the restrictions, conduct of the JSA league would not be possible since a lot of logistics shall have to be worked out. The logistics include decking up the grounds, drawing fixtures and conducting qualifiers. It is time consuming.

The Covid-19 situation has improved in Jharkhand and things have opened up. This has made JSA officials optimistic about the conduct of the fixture for girls.