THE ALL INDIA FOOTBALL Federation (AIFF) on Tuesday announced a nationwide consultation to develop a unified framework to align how football is played, taught, and developed across the country.
AIFF’s “national football philosophy” aims to address long-standing inconsistencies in talent identification and player development, establishing a clear progression from grassroots to the national teams, as per an AIFF press release.
Once finalised, it will guide coach education, competition structures, and development programmes nationwide.
The AIFF has stressed that this must be a ground-up exercise, inviting contributions from coaches, players, clubs, academies, member associations, and fans. Participants will share views on six areas: vision and identity, game model, player profile, development pathways, coaching approach, and implementation.
Participants have been requested to fill in the required details in a Google form on their official website to be a part of the initiative.
The AIFF announced this framework, which seen from this perch is just more jaw-jaw to tamp down the criticism being thrown AIFF’s way over India’s football woes under the Kalyan Chaubey dispensation, be it on the field or away from it.
India’s performances in the past two years or so have led to them dipping to 136 in the FIFA Rankings in men’s football. Other than a third place finish in the CAFA Nations Cup last year in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, India has failed to leave its mark on the international level.
Then there is the well documented turmoil the Indian Super League, the top tier of the country’s club competition, has seen over the last one year and more. The ISL, usually held from September to April every year, started only on February 14 this year as it struggled to find any bidders. After months of uncertainty, the digital and TV rights for the league went to FanCode.
The league was brought to a standstill after the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the AIFF and the Reliance-controlled Football Sports Development Limited expired on December 8, 2025, creating a major crisis for the 2025-26 ISL season. The 15-year deal, signed in 2010, provided ₹50 crore annually to the AIFF.
