GANGTOK (Sikkim): The All India Football Federation (AIFF) held a long, fruitful discussion on the budget, and its intricacies and approved various other committees to look into matters of club licensing, medical matters, legal matters and grassroots issues among others, at its executive committee meeting held in Gangtok on Wednesday.
AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey on Wednesday chaired the meeting.
In the first order of the day, Chaubey suggested that new ideas must be brought in for the 2023-24 season of the I-League in order to strengthen the competition. A meeting will be held with representatives from all the clubs, with the venue and date to be decided later.
The committee will have another meeting to finalise the AIFF’s budget on every front.
The executive committee approved a number of suggestions that were earlier forwarded to it by the Competitions Committee, the first of which was concerning the Senior Men’s National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy. The legacy competition of Indian Football will be played with the final round having 12 teams (10 qualifying states, along with the Services and the Railways). The Group Stages will be placed across six groups of five to six teams each, and the group toppers, along with the two best second-placed teams, the hosts, the Services, and the Railways will play in the final round. The EC also agreed with the Competitions Committee’s suggestion that the Hero Senior Women’s NFC Qualifiers be held in December.
The format of the Santosh Trophy, the committee decided, will be followed in all other national football championships at all age group levels. It was also agreed that the facilities for the players, especially in terms of travel and stay, should be improved with immediate effect.
It was also agreed that all national youth championships should be held between December and May.
In its effort to grow the game throughout the country, the executive committee accepted the development committee’s proposal to provide financial support of Rs 24 lakhs for each state association under the banner of the AIFF. This financial assistance may be utilised by the state associations for their women’s, men’s and youth leagues, office spaces, equipment, and grassroots development.
The EC also approved the DC’s recommendation that the AIFF provide support to each State FA in the appointment of two key personnel for each state to hire their respective Administration Heads and Technical Coordinators.
Many other agendas were deferred to the next meeting, to be held soon, by the EC.
