AIFF And State Associations Pitch For More Match Time For Domestic Players In 3-day Conclave

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its affiliated units on Friday mulled on the possible restructuring of the Santosh Trophy and state leagues in order to give more match time to domestic players.

Top officials of the AIFF and 32 Member Associations (MAs) from across the country deliberated upon the diverse challenges in each state in a three-day conclave that concluded at the Football House here on Friday. AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey chaired the meetings on all three days.

"The members also agreed that more match time is required for Indian domestic players and discussed how the AIFF and the MAs can restructure the Santosh Trophy or the State Leagues to create more match time," the AIFF said.

The AIFF State Gradation and State Specific Strategic Plans meeting saw the principal office bearers of the federation listen to the presidents and secretaries of the MAs, who were offered the floor for 40 minutes each.

The MAs made detailed presentations of their operations at the state level over the last three years and unfolded their future plans in the next three years while realistically identifying their challenges and advantages.

The AIFF officials also deliberated upon the proposals from the member associations for the development of football in their respective states in alignment with the Vision 2047 plan.

"We must ensure that there are state-wise plans for maximum optimisation of development, which will also help Indian football to move ahead in totality. Our proposals and discussions for the entire 25 hours in three days hovered around with this specific thought,” said Chaubey.

"... we have provisioned for each MA to submit their self-evaluation cards, based on which we will make proposals on a case-to-case basis.” The self-evaluation cards are broad-based, having nearly 500 points and cover several key areas like administration, infrastructure, football ecosystem, sporting achievements, marketing and broadcasting, etc.

According to the AIFF, the meeting also discussed the possibilities of gaining Atma Nirbhar Status (financial sustainability) for both the AIFF and its MAs.

"The AIFF, currently, mainly receives grants from three sources – the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Goi, the FIFA, and the AFC, most of which are subject-specific grants.

"AIFF is making every effort to collaborate with various state governments and other organisations for the conduct of national and international tournaments and matches to relieve the budget constraints to an extent. These organisations have largely come forward in extending the infrastructure facilities to the AIFF," it said.

The federation also informed that it currently has 13,195 licensed coaches, and 3,616 registered referees for the 2024-25 season.

"The meeting felt if the coaches should undergo refresher courses for training at the grassroots level, then the same should be applied to the referees as well. The meeting deliberated upon the improvement of Indian refereeing in general and felt that this is one area that should be looked into specifically," the AIFF said.

It was also noted by the members that nearly Rs 2,200 crore has been approved by several state governments for the renovation of football stadium or infrastructure (like Guwahati Rs 630 crore, Kokrajhar Rs 140 crore, Tawang Rs 224 crore, Nagaland Rs 300 crore, Telangana Rs 27 crore, Uttar Pradesh 800 football fields averaging Rs 1 crore each per field and 18 small stadiums averaging 10 crores for each stadium).