Gujarat hosts the National Championships for the First Time

The 69th edition of the Santosh Trophy is being hosted with all states competing for a place in the final round. Five zones have been formed, East, West, North, South and North East, who have been made Zonals played across the five grounds of these five zones. The main centre of attraction among all the venues was Gujarat where the National Championships would be hosted for the first time. All West Zone matches will be played at the Municipal Corporation Stadium in Rajkot.

Vajubhai Bala, Governor of Karnataka was the Chief Guest who inaugurated the championship. The opening ceremony was a colourful one and many prominent personalities have graced the show including top Government officials and former players with children from many schools. In the opening match Gujarat defeated Daman & Diu by 5 goals to 1 and Madhya Pradesh by a solitary goal. This is a real jovial moment for the state.

It seems that with several events taking place in all the pockets of the country, Indian Football is sure to get back in its old strides. AIFF President Praful Patel has already made it clear that there would be persistent endeovours by the governing body for the development of the sport in the country. Grassroots programme is one of those efforts which the All India Football Federation (AIFF) initiated since 2012. With these small sided games, the organization is refining the skills of the players as well as diverting the inclination of the young people back to the game.

Praful Patel profile remained to be an essential factor as he spoke very affirmatively in the recently held Annual General Meeting of AIFF. Besides, his idea for the development of the sport also remained very strong when he had launched the Strategic Planning of AIFF alongside FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke. Both the stalwarts said that it is important to raise the standard of the national tournaments like I-League as this would only fetch the Indian Football a standardized position at the FIFA rankings which unfortunately had dwindled by ten places this year. Although with tournaments like Indian Super League (ISL) did leave an indelible cascading impact on the national tournaments, it cannot be considered as a premium game. It can only be considered as a Short Term Booster. It has been hoped that with the right kind of planning and strategies, AIFF will be successful in enhancing the sport both qualitatively and quantitatively.