Subrata Datta said: “Indian Football his growing exponentially
Hosting two FIFA World Cups
in under four years, and top-notch performances by National Teams in International
competitions have defined Indian Football in the last 5 years.
Speaking on the sidelines of
FICCI’s GOAL Summit 2019, AIFF’s Senior Vice President, Mr Subrata Datta said:
“Indian Football his growing exponentially. It has grown by leaps and bounds.
The holistic development of Indian football over the last few years has been a
major achievement, and all associated with it should be proud.”
“Indian football is being
talked about in the nook and corner of the world, be it in terms of our
National Teams, or the FIFA World Cups that we have hosted, and will host,” he
added.
India hosted the FIFA U-17
World Cup India 2017 in 2017 and is slated to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup
in 2020. The performances of the Indian National Teams have been noteworthy as
well, especially the senior team’s 4-1 win against Thailand in the AFC Asian
Cup, the women’s team clinching the 5th successive SAFF title in a row, and the
U-16 team reaching the quarterfinals of the AFC U-16 Finals, before going down
by a solitary goal against Korea Republic.
“We have six FIFA approved
stadiums, and we plan to add four more to them by 2022. The National Centre of
Excellence which is coming up in West Bengal will be a state of the art centre
which will help in the training of players, coaches, referees and officials,”
the Senior Vice President explained.
“Today we have 60 accredited
academies coupled with youth leagues and baby leagues. There are over 650 baby
leagues being conducted with over 30,000 kids participating and this number
will double over the years.”