The popular Jamshedpur Sporting Association (JSA) football league is all set to make a comeback to the Steel City Greens after a two-year hiatus.

The Covid-19 pandemic had forced cancellation of the fixture twice, including the league's platinum jubilee year in 2020. However, the Covid-related situation has improved considerably and organizers have switched gears to conduct the event in May.

The JSA football sub-committee has decided to conduct the qualifying round on April 25, said JSA secretary, Avinash Kumar.

To start with, the clubs who have sought fresh applications and desire to participate should send their entry along with a list of 16 players with copy of recent passport size photo of each player before April 18.

"The registration form for new players and a copy of rules and regulation for qualifying round can be collected from Arun Sinha on April 12 (10:00 AM to 02:00 PM) onwards at JRD Tata Sports Complex. And the same need to be submitted before April 18 (10:00 am to 02:00 pm)," added Kumar.

The popular football league is one of the oldest fixtures in the Eastern zone. The tournament stretches for nearly two months, with around 80 matches.

The event is to be conducted at Keenan Stadium, Gopal Maidan, Armoury ground, Tinplate Sports Complex and Sumant Mulgaokar Stadium.

The JSA will deck up the venues after the qualifiers also work on other logistics for hassle-free conduct of the tournament..

As many as 44 clubs and institutions compete in the tournament held in the Premier Division, the Super Division and A Division. The event is supported by Tata Steel.

Top teams, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Football Academy, Aruna Samity and Mohammedan Sporting are to compete in the fixture which attracts an impressive crowd. The organizers have also informed the police about the tournament, lest things go out of hand from the crowd.

The participating players look forward to the tournament, which serves as a platform to graduate to the State teams for National championships.