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

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

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

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

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

MAs me detailed presentations of ir operations at state level over last three years and unfolded ir future plans in next three years while realistically identifying ir challenges and vantages.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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