NAVI MUMBAI: FIFA president Gianni Infantino lauded India’s hosting of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, while speaking at a felicitation ceremony ahead of the final here Sunday, which saw holders Spain retain the title they won in Uruguay in 2018.
“India has been a fantastic host. This makes me believe that you can do more in other competitions as well. In the mean time, there can be only one World Champion, but there are 210 countries that art not champions. However, I always say that all 211 countries win in the end. Football brings smiles to every little girl and boy in the world. When children play or watch football, they smile,” said the FIFA President.
Infantino informed the gathering that he will be back in India early next year.
“We were just in meeting with Mr Chaubey (AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey). Grassroots is an important area that we need to start pushing from, and build from there. There’s also things like how we can professionalise women’s competitions, and we have to strengthen the leagues to promote Indian Football,” the FIFA president noted.
He also spoke about FIFA’s operations in India. He said, “You can count on FIFA to beef up our office here in India. We will work together on various things. India is a big country, a great country. There’s a lot to offer for both Indians in India and worldwide. I believe in the potential India has.”
Infantino said that India is one of the countries that FIFA has high on it’s list for the popularisation of football.
“I spoke about India in the FIFA Congress as the sleeping giants of football. Now, it’s time for India to wake up. Whenever I come to India, I see a lot of passion for sports. Our ultimate objective is to make football global, and India, along with USA and China are the three countries that are priority for us. To globalise football, we need to make India one of the top countries in the world.”
We want to focus on India: AFC president
In a related development, AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, who was also in Navi Mumbai, said FIFA and the AFC are happy with India’s success as hosts of major tournaments like the just concluded U-17 Women’s World Cup, and want to focus more on the country as a growing football destination.
The World Cup has been hosted across three cities – Bhubaneswar, Goa, and Navi Mumbai – with the AFC president attending the summit clash between Colombia and Spain at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai, on Sunday.
The AFC President said, “FIFA and AFC want to focus on India to host more future events, and over the last few years since I’ve taken over at the AFC, I think India has played a big role in Asian football. You have hosted two World Cups and the Senior Women’s AFC Asian Cup here. India is a major country in Asia and hopefully it can take it’s position at the same level in football, in the coming years.”
Meeting the new AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, Shaikh Salman extended the AFC’s full support towards the growth of Indian Football.
“I’ve met the new management here, and I will always give all the support I can for India to succeed as a footballing nation. India’s success will be our success in Asia,” said Shaikh Salman. “We’ve always looked at India as a sleeping giant, waiting to wake up, and we’re waiting for that moment.”
“India has taken great strides in recent times, but the pace could be even faster. Of course, the COVID pandemic has not helped in the last two years, and that was not just in India. There will always be challenges, be it COVID or other things, but I think the determination is there from all stakeholders to progress.
“It’s a country of more than 1.3 billion, so there must be enough talent in India. They need all the support they can get from the stakeholders, the AIFF, the government, private sector, and all other parties for the game to succeed,” he said. “I’m sure football has great potential to succeed in India.”
