THE AIFF has renewed its partnership with the Odisha government’s Department of Sports and Youth Services (DSYS) through a fresh five-year MoU focused on elite youth football development.
The agreement was signed by DSYS Director of Sports Vijay Yeddula and AIFF Deputy Secretary General, M Satyanarayan, with AIFF Technical Director, Syed Sabir Pasha, in attendance.
AIFF Deputy Secretary General Satyanarayan said, “We are deeply grateful to the Government of Odisha and the Department of Sports and Youth Services for their continued trust and support in renewing this partnership. The results from our first cohort speak for themselves – players who trained at the AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy have gone on to join top academies, represented India at the U17 level at just 15 years of age, and we have already seen promising youngsters from Odisha making their mark. This is only the beginning. With this renewed agreement, we are committed to building on that momentum and taking Indian football to greater heights.”
Building on the original November 2023 agreement, the renewed MoU comes on the back of early results from the AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy, a semi-final appearance in the U17 AIFF Elite Youth League 2024-25, four players entering the India U17 national team setup, and an Odisha girl earning a call-up to the India U19 Women’s National Team, all within under two years.
The new deal introduces a more structured framework covering roles, governance, performance benchmarks, and financial commitments. With FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme providing backing, the AIFF will handle the technical and operational side of player development, while the DSYS will offer institutional, financial, and infrastructure support.
