Shillong, March 23: In line with FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation, the All India Football Federation has formed a new Development Committee with AIFF Vice-President Mr Larsing Ming Sawyan as its Chairman.
The Development Committee will oversee all development-related activities of the AIFF, including the State FA Development Plan, Coach Development Programme, Grassroots and Youth Development Programmes, and others.
Besides Mr Sawyan, Mr Subhash Chopra, Mr Ghulam Rabbani, Mr Deepak Kumar, Mr Surinder Kumar, Mr Joydeep Mukherjea, Mr Yesu Patel and Mr Menla Ethenpa are the others on the Committee.
Stressing that there are “no shortcuts to glory,” AIFF President Mr Praful Patel stated that he expected the Committee to help Indian football develop further.
“If we go for a shortcut, then Indian football will never go to the next level. There is no shortcut when it comes to grassroots football. It is important that what is happening is guiding change in Indian football and the whole ecosystem of Indian Football is progressing as the bottom of the player pyramid structure has beefed up massively,” Mr Patel said. “A major reason why we wanted the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 was that we wanted to focus on our grassroots. It is imperative to develop grassroots if a nation has to bring on a football revolution and that is exactly what we intend to do, before, after and during the FIFA World Cup,” the AIFF President added.
Speaking after his appointment, Mr Sawyan said, “The committee has been set up specifically to focus on football development in the country and I am honoured to have been appointed its first chairman and hope to fulfill my role to the best of my abilities.”
The Development Committee shall deal with AIFF’s national development programmes. It shall devise and propose appropriate strategies, check these strategies and analyse the support and programmes provided to Member Associations and their Affiliated Units in this regard.
The Development Committee shall in particular analyse the major development challenges at stake, advise and assist the Executive Committee on AIFF’s development programmes, propose new development activities and address the related budget matters, draw up guidelines and regulations on development programmes, recommend the thematic focus, types of activity and budget allocation per State/ Union Territory and/or per Member Association.
All major functions like the Coach Education Department, Academy development and State Development plans shall be handled by the Development Committee. This is a new Committee that has been formed by the AIFF and being amended in its constitution.
