SAI Stadium, Kokrajhar

SAI Stadium, Kokrajhar (also known as the Sports Authority of India Stadium, Kokrajhar or SAI STC Kokrajhar) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Kathalguri, on the outskirts of Kokrajhar town in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) of Assam, India. Primarily used for association football, the stadium is part of a wider Sports Authority of India Special Area Games / Sports Training Centre complex that also includes athletics, hockey and other facilities. The stadium has emerged as one of the principal football venues in Northeast India, having hosted matches of the Durand Cup and the Santosh Trophy, and is the home ground of Bodoland FC.

History

The Sports Authority of India Training Centre at Kokrajhar was established in 2006 as the only SAI sports academy in the Bodoland Territorial Region, offering training in football, athletics, hockey, wushu and other disciplines to young athletes. Footballers Halicharan Narzary and Apurna Narzary are among the players who began their careers training at the centre.

The venue gained wider recognition after it was chosen to host matches of the 2022–23 Santosh Trophy group stage, with ten matches played at the SAI ground and a further five at the nearby Kokrajhar District Sports Association (KDSA) ground between 28 December 2022 and 5 January 2023.

Kokrajhar was subsequently selected as a host city for the 2023 Durand Cup, the first time the tournament had been held in the Bodoland region; the opening ceremony was held on 5 August 2023 and inaugurated by Rajnath Singh, India's Minister of Defence, along with the Chief of Army Staff Manoj Pande and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Eight teams, including local side Bodoland FC, competed in matches staged at the venue.

Ahead of the 2024 Durand Cup, the stadium underwent extensive renovation funded by the Government of Assam, including a new sand-based, FIFA-standard playing surface, upgraded floodlights for night matches, and a smart internal drainage and sprinkler system, described as the first such installation in Northeast India. Assam Football Association secretary Sangrang Brahma told The Assam Tribune that renovation works including new sand layers and an upgraded drainage system had made the ground's playing surface among the best in the Northeast region. Kokrajhar again hosted a group in the 2024 Durand Cup, with the tournament's opening clash of the Kokrajhar leg pitting local side Bodoland FC against NorthEast United FC on 30 July 2024, an "all-Assam derby" as part of Group E, which also featured Odisha FC and the Border Security Force football team.

Kokrajhar hosted the tournament for a third consecutive year in the 2025 Durand Cup, staging six matches in its 134th edition. The trophies were paraded through the town on 15 July 2025, and the opening ceremony took place on 27 July 2025 at the SAI Stadium, attended by Assam sports minister Nandita Garlosa, BTR Chief Executive Member Pramod Boro, and former Bhutanese prime minister Lotay Tshering, among senior Indian Army officials. The opening match paired the Indo-Tibetan Border Police football team against Karbi Anglong Morning Star FC.

Facilities

The SAI complex in Kokrajhar covers approximately 27 acres and, in addition to the main football stadium, includes an athletics track, a hockey astroturf pitch, an indoor wushu hall, a gymnasium, and separate hostel accommodation for male and female trainee athletes. The venue operates as both a Sports Training Centre (STC), for athletes aged 10 to 18, and under the Special Area Games (SAG) scheme intended to identify talent from tribal, rural, hilly and coastal areas of the region.

Home team

The stadium is the home ground of Bodoland FC, founded in 2022 as the first football club from the Bodoland region to compete in the Durand Cup. The ground has a seating capacity of 12,000.

Major events

See also

• List of football stadiums in India
• Sports Authority of India