18 teams for NFL Division II preliminaries

Eighteen teams will participate in the preliminary rounds of the Second Division National Football League, which gets underway on April 10.

The preliminary round, to be played on league basis, has the teams divided in three groups. The matches will be played at Srinagar, Shillong and Bangalore, All India Football Federation secretary Alberto Colaco said in a statement from Goa on Friday.

The top teams from each group qualify for the next phase, he added.

Following are the details of the groups:

Group-I (venue: Srinagar): RCF (Punjab), Indian Air Force (Delhi), J & K Bank (Jammu), UP Police (UP), team from MP and Raj Milk (Bihar).

Group-II (venue: Shillong): Oil India (Assam), Lajong SS (Meghalaya), Neroca FC (Manipur), team from Sikkim, Eveready (West Bengal) and team from Tripura.

Group-III (Bangalore): ICF (Tamil Nadu), KSEB (Kerala), CIL (Karnataka), Fransa FC (Goa), Haywards 2000 SC (Mah) and Gujarat Police.