August 16, 2026 09:57 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
After SC rebuke, BCI chief apologises to NALSAR students over enrolment freeze row | Independence Day: PM Modi’s big youth pitch— AI training, free coaching amid exam row and job concerns | ‘Shakti Ki Saptadhara’: Modi reveals 7 pillars to power India’s next leap in his I-Day speech from Red Fort | West Bengal STF arrests 3 more suspected Pakistani spies in Cooch Behar | Bengal man arrested in Bengaluru over terror links, Afghanistan travel plan | Ajit Doval breaks silence on Operation Sindoor in Discovery’s explosive new docuseries | Rahul Gandhi's 'mock hug' taunt sparks row; Centre stresses 'mutual respect' with Italy | Delhi on high alert: Bomb threat to High Court, airport and multiple locations ahead of I-Day | ‘Who are they to interfere?’: CJI Surya Kant slams Bar Council of India over NALSAR students’ enrolment row | 'Shows how low Congress has sunk': BJP slams Rahul Gandhi over Modi foreign policy jibe

Indian football is expanding: Subrata Dutta

| @indiablooms | Mar 26, 2019, at 03:18 pm

New Delhi, Mar 26 (IBNS): Hosting two FIFA World Cups in under four years, and top-notch performances by National Teams in International competitions have defined Indian Football in the last 5 years.

Speaking on the sidelines of FICCI’s GOAL Summit 2019, AIFF’s Senior Vice President, Mr Subrata Datta said: “Indian Football his growing exponentially. It has grown by leaps and bounds. The holistic development of Indian football over the last few years has been a major achievement, and all associated with it should be proud.”

“Indian football is being talked about in the nook and corner of the world, be it in terms of our National Teams, or the FIFA World Cups that we have hosted, and will host,” he added.

India hosted the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 in 2017 and is slated to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020. The performances of the Indian National Teams have been noteworthy as well, especially the senior team’s 4-1 win against Thailand in the AFC Asian Cup, the women’s team clinching the 5th successive SAFF title in a row, and the U-16 team reaching the quarterfinals of the AFC U-16 Finals, before going down by a solitary goal against Korea Republic.

“We have six FIFA approved stadiums, and we plan to add four more to them by 2022. The National Centre of Excellence which is coming up in West Bengal will be a state of the art centre which will help in the training of players, coaches, referees and officials,” the Senior Vice President explained.

“Today we have 60 accredited academies coupled with youth leagues and baby leagues. There are over 650 baby leagues being conducted with over 30,000 kids participating and this number will double over the years.”

Image Credit: AIFF media

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.