FIFA allocates 38 million dollar for the U-17 World Cup in India

As All India Football Federation (AIFF) is gearing up its operation and refinement of infrastructure for hosting the U-17 World Cup in India, FIFA on the other hand has allocated 38 million dollar for the entire tournament. This lucrative fund has been set in order to help India organize the 2017 U – 17 World Cup. The FIFA Congress meeting had been attended by AIFF Vice President Subhas Chopra in Sao Paolo just two days before the start of the World Cup 2014. The announcement of the fund allocation has been made for the organizational purpose only.

Chopra was also accompanied to Brazil by AIFF treasurer Hardev Jadeja and executive committee member Ankur Dutta as a part of the AIFF delegation. The team is thrilled to visit the FIFA office as they found FIFA President Sepp Blatter to be very positive and committed in helping India host this successful tournament. AIFF is also gaining major support from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in this regard. The role of AIFF President Praful Patel has been highly appreciated by these international bodies in driving the governing body to take up major initiatives in professionalizing the sport in the country.

Recently a two – member FIFA delegated team visited India in order to supervise the eight stadiums where the tournament will be hosted. The team also visited Goa who had expressed in hosting the final match of the tournament. With Praful Patel contributions, AIFF has reformulated its strategies in making the sport even more attractive. AIFF is maintaining a stringent method in selecting the players for the U-17 World Cup and is also taking care of retaining the integrity of the game. To serve this purpose, an integrity officer has been appointed who is going to monitor all the pros and cons of the team so that no corruption or malpractices like match fixing takes place.

Mumbai FC pulls in its first foreign players

Mumbai FC has pulled in Japanese player Taisuke Matsugae for the 2014-15 season. The information has been revealed by the club in a press release. The 31 player has the experience of playing for the Shillong Lajong in the last season and for teams in the 2nd Division of J-League in Japan. Taisuke is the first ever foreign player which has been signed by Mumbai FC and also fills the club’s Asian quota.

The Head of the Mumbai FC Head Coach Khalid Jamil is highly excited about this new introduction as he thinks that he will bring a lot of creativity to the Mumbai FC attack. “He has the ability to unlock any defense and he also has a very good eye for goal. Taisuke will fit into my game plans very well. A player who can play both as a midfielder and as a false nine is always a valuable asset.”

In 2007 Taisuke joined Blaublitz Akita had played in the Japan Football League. He stayed at the club from 2007 to 2013 in which he had participated in 96 league matches and scored 19 goals in his time at the club. At Shillong Lajong he played 31 matches scoring 4 goals for them in the process. Taisuke sounded delighted at his arrival. “I am happy to be at this club. I enjoyed my time playing in the I-League last season and wanted to continue playing in this league. I will give my best at this club. I hope to join my teammates for our pre-season soon.”

AIFF President Praful Patel is helping the governing body to take giant strides in terms of development and professionalizing football in the country. With tournaments like Indian Super League (ISL) and U-17 FIFA World Cup, 2017, Indian football is about to get a strong commercial background. With Praful Patel profile, AIFF is taking best initiatives to infuse best practices and techniques for the game.

Pawar seeks vote for progressive Maharashtra

The preparations for the state assembly in Maharashtra are going on with full fervour. The debate between Congress and its ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on the seat sharing has stretched quite far. The party leaders have demanded an equitable distribution of seats in the states as they claimed that their performance was better than their senior ally in the 16th Lok Sabha Election. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar appealed the people of Maharashtra to bring the party back in to power in the state for the fourth time to fill their dreams of development. This has been declared with the launch of party’s campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly polls here on Saturday.

Pawar has pointed out that the people of Maharashtra have voted NCP back to power since the last 15 years. The NCP chief is sure that the party workers will have to strengthen the bonds with the people for that. It is the primary focus of the party to keep Maharashtra united and it should be a balanced development in all regions be it North Maharashtra, Marathwada or drought prone villages in Western Maharashtra. This has been the apparent reference to BJP’s support for separate Vidarbha. Pawar also stressed on the promotion of education among minorities and tribal communities.

Senior NCP Leader Praful Patel has instructed his party member to work against ‘misinformation campaign’ against the State Government and the party. He has been quite vocal in terms of seat sharing formula of the parties. He has specifically mentioned that NCP cannot go on waiting indefinitely for the decision of Congress regarding the allotment of seats for the State Assembly.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has become a leading political party in India as it has been operating since 1999. It has been actively involved in several national matters in alliance with the Congress Party. The party is creating several milestones under the leadership of Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel contributions as senior leader, Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Bhaskar Jadhav, Tariq Anwar and many others.

Grass Roots Programme to start in Odisha

All India Football Federation (AIFF) is all set to professionalise and popularise football in India with its utmost endeavour. The governing body has set up a term with Football Association of Odisha and is making comprehensive approach towards in initialising Grass Roots Development Programme in the state. This programme will be conducted in five districts of Odisha and it will solely be directed to the development of the young players from Odisha. In a recent meeting held at the Barabati Guest house, a plan for Grassroots’ Football Development in the state of Odisha as has been framed with AIFF. The organisation has already given a presentation regarding the development of football at the basic and elementary level in the country. Mr. Suvrat Thatte, Manager, Grass Roots Development Programme, AIFF, by implementing this programme the state will benefit in developing football in near future. Mr. Asirbad Behera, Honorary Secretary, O.O.A & O.C.A opined that this program will be implemented in the state at the earliest. It has been declared that the initial stage of the programme will be conducted only in five districts of the state.

The efforts of AIFF in building a strong edifice for the youth has enabled the organisation to initiate the grass roots programme and youth development programme. These programmes are organised with the primary objective to initiate best practices and technical skills in order to improve the performance of the players. AIFF President Praful Patel has been the man behind the success story of AIFF as he said, “Indian football can never come up until we strengthen the grass roots. A strong youth development program will have to be launched, if we are to build and sustain the future of football in our country. There will be many critics but we shall not be deterred.”

With Praful Patel contributions in the development of football, AIFF is gaining a sharp momentum and is taking giant strides. The upcoming venture Indian Super League (ISL), a strong foundation and a healthy ecosystem are created to nurturing the real potentials and talents in the team. The grassroots development programmes or courses work with the dream to create national football heroes.

AFC inspectors Goa Sporting Club

A team of inspectors from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have come to visit the Goa Sporting Club, who has carried out their investigation pertaining to their licensing process. The purpose of their visit was to monitor every aspects of the club before sanctioning license to them.

The experts took a much meticulous scrutiny at the training ground facilities at the Don Bosco Ground, Panjim as they headed towards SCD headquarters in Campal to conduct the interviews of the staffs and the coaches. The criteria which were being evaluated were related to the cores of infrastructure, sporting, financial, legal division and administration.

Head of AFC Research and Support services Steve Kim has presented the new regulations for participation in the AFC competitions. He was being associated by Accounts Manager Kevin Org and AFC Head of Club Licensing Mahajan Nair. The session was also presided over by I-League CEO Sunando Dhar and I-League club licensing Manager Roma Khanna on behalf of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

AIFF President Praful Patel is boosting AIFF to take up some of the strong initiatives in popularising football in India to make it a number one sport in the country. It is with their strategic efforts the organisation has been able to achieve success in bagging the prestigious FIFA U-17 World Cup. This international event has been scheduled in the year 2017.

The selection procedure for this international tournament is being conducted in the most professional and stringent fashion. The authorities are keeping a serious check on the age verification process of the players and also the participants are to be judged on their quality parameters. With Praful Patel contributions as an asset, AIFF has been able to maintain a strong foundation in holding onto the integrity and the true spirit of the game.