The All India Football Federation (AIFF) will host the knock-out stages of the Santosh Trophy in either Jeddah or Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for three years, president Kalyan Chaubey said on Saturday.

AIFF 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 MoU that we signed with the Saudi Football Federation, one was for hosting Santosh Trophy in Jeddah and Riyadh,” Chaubey said in New Delhi on Saturday.

“Jeddah has more Indian population but Riyadh is the capital. And so the government there can club it together with art and culture. So these are the areas we will discuss and maybe by January we’ll take a final call,” the former goalkeeper said.

“We will make it for three years. It is not that easy. One year, it may not be successful, because several unexpected challenges will come but that does not mean you stop this tournament,” he said.

“So it’s a three-year thing and I’m sure, year-wise we will do well. We definitely have to see what is the pace of improvement, where are we improving, and whether it is 10 per cent growth rate or a 50 per cent.”

Chaubey also said that the AIFF is planning to implement equal pay for men’s and women’s footballers in the country. “I have realised as a former player unless you are paid a decent remuneration, you can’t feel motivated. So I feel it is important to honour women footballers.”

Written with inputs from PTI