Holders India take on Palestine in the opening match of the 14th Nehru Cup international football tournament, at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi on August 19.
India, who beat Syria 1-0 in the 2007 final, are placed in Group A along with Lebanon and Palestine, who replaced Thailand after the South East Asian country refused to send their national 'A' team.
Syria, Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka make up Group B.
The group matches will be played in a round-robin format and the top two teams will qualify for the semi-finals, to be played on August 27 and 28.
The final will be played on August 31 while the third place play-off will be on August 30.
The winners of the tournament, to be sponsored by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, will earn US $40,000 while the runner-up and third-place finisher will be richer by US $20,000 and 10,000 respectively.
The winning team of the each of the 10 matches, including both group and knock-out matches, will receive US $500 while the man-of-the-match will get US $300. The total prize-money for the tournament amounts to US $100,000.
Syria is the highest-ranked team at 95 followed by Lebanon at 148 while India and Sri Lanka are both at 156. Palestine is the lowest ranked, at 160.
All the matches will be played under floodlights, with the start time at 1830 IST. Zee Sports will telecast them live.
The tournament, which was put off by a day from its earlier scheduled August 18 start, also got a jolt after 117th-ranked Thailand was replaced by Palestine.
AIFF General Secretary Alberto Colaco told a press conference that the federation decided to "scrap" Thailand's participation after the South East Asian country refused to confirm participation of their national 'A' team.
"Thailand first confirmed their participation but from the players' list they sent we came to know it was their Under-19 team. We sent a letter that AIFF can't accept their team as Nehru Cup is a tournament among national 'A' teams. Thailand did not reply so we invited Palestine," he said.
Colaco said the Indian team will return home on Friday after training at Dubai for 10 days and a month at FC Barcelona facilities.
"The team is reaching here [Delhi] tomorrow. The players will disperse and will have a camp at Gurgaon from August 12 till the start of the tournament."
AIFF acting president Praful Patel said he is looking forward to a successful tournament.
"The Nehru Cup is India's most prestigious tournament. It not only gives our team a chance to play at the international level but also shows our talent that we are in a good position to compete at the international level. The AIFF will do everything to ensure it is a success," he said.
