Rio de Janeiro, Oct 29 (IANS): Brazil's football federation (CBF) has unveiled plans for an Under-20 national league.

The CBF's junior development coordinator Alexandre Gallo said the proposal was being discussed along with a possible Under-15 Copa do Brasil tournament, reports Xinhua.

"We are hoping to make these (competitions) viable and as soon as we have news we will make an announcement," Gallo said on the CBF's official website Tuesday.

"The clubs have requested this. They want a larger volume of competitive matches during the year. We are going to meet their demands."

In the past two years, the CBF has implemented Under-17 and Under-20 Copa do Brasil tournaments. But their knockout format means participating teams may only have one fixture in each competition.

An Under-20 league would allow clubs to test players over a 38-match home-and-away season, replicating the national Serie A championship.

Plans for the new under-age competitions emerged after the CBF announced it would build 15 training centers to develop the nation's elite youngsters.

According to the Globo newspaper, funds will be drawn from the $100 million World Cup pledge by football's governing body FIFA to develop grassroots football in Brazil.