New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, the Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, on Thursday told the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to chalk an elaborate plan for grassroots development and target to achieve the top-50 position in the FIFA World Rankings.

Dr. Mandaviya expressed his opinion while addressing a delegation of All India Football Federation (AIFF) administrators under the leadership of President Kalyan Chaubey and briefed him on the existing AIFF-FIFA Academy in Odisha and the plan to build an additional four AIFF-FIFA Academies in different zones.

Ged Roddy from FIFA TDS was present along with AIFF Secretary General Anilkumar and Deputy Secretary General M. Satyanarayan.

The AIFF-FIFA Academy was launched in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, after the visit of Arséne Wenger, FIFA Chief of Global Football Development and widely regarded as the world’s most successful coach in developing youth players. The AIFF-FIFA academy in Odisha currently has 32 cadets. Ged Roddy, FIFA TDS project director, is presently on a visit to India to review the project.

After the meeting, which also discussed the importance of coach development, the honourable minister assured the AIFF of all possible support for the development of football in India.

Dr Mandaviya said, “An elaborate plan has to be chalked out and put in place for execution so that India can reach a FIFA ranking below 50 in the next ten years. India boasts one of the largest pools of young talent globally. The focus should be on grassroots, talent identification. They should be nurtured along with coach development which will be pivotal for the sports growth.

“Rapid economic growth and an expanding middle class are reshaping attitudes towards sports. Parents are now encouraging children to balance academics with sports unlike earlier times,” the honourable minister pointed out," Dr. Mandaviya was quoted as saying by the AIFF in a release.

He said, “The Government is committed to providing comprehensive support for sports development in India. Initiatives like new training centres and partnerships with international bodies will drive progress.”

On the occasion, AIFF President Chaubey said, “Given the size and population of a vast country like India, one AIFF-FIFA academy in Odisha is not enough. So, we proposed to have four more regional academies with the same technical support from FIFA.”

He also added that the AIFF has presented a detailed plan to the honourable Sports Minister. “Presently in India, there are 25 fully professional clubs in the ISL and the I-League. In addition to that, there are 80 AIFF-accredited academies, all of these teams have under-13 age group category teams, and the details have been presented to the ministry.

"If these U13 category players of 105 teams can follow the same Football Philosophy under FIFA’s technical guidance through five zonal AIFF-FIFA Academies, then it will lead us to have 110 teams of the U13 category. Through this initiative we can create nearly 3300 players (if there are 30 players in each team), who will grow up through the same football philosophy. The success of this project may well lead India to qualify for the U17 World Cup on its own merit,” said the AIFF President.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS