'India boasts one of the largest pools of young talent globally. The focus should be on grassroots, talent identification.'
India can break into the top-50 in the FIFA rankings in the next 10 years, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in New Delhi on Thursday.
The top brass of the AIFF, including its president Kalyan Chaubey, met Mandaviya on Thursday to brief him on the existing AIFF-FIFA Academy in Odisha and the plan to build additional four such facilities in different zones.
"An elaborate plan has to be chalked out and put in place for execution so that India can reach a FIFA ranking below 50 in the next ten years," Mandaviya said in the AIFF media release.
"India boasts one of the largest pools of young talent globally. The focus should be on grassroots, talent identification. They should be nurtured along with coach development which will be pivotal for the sports growth."
The FIFA rankings began in 1992 and the Indian men's football team's best ranking has been 94, achieved in February 1996. The team has broken into the top-100 on a very few occasions.
In the latest FIFA chart issued on Thursday, the Indian football team is ranked 127th, two spots down from the earlier October list. Japan, Iran, Korea and Australia, the regular Asian countries in the World Cup, are ranked at 15th, 18th, 23rd and 26th respectively in the latest rankings.
After the meeting, which also discussed the importance of coach development, the minister assured the AIFF of all possible support for the development of the sport in India.
"Rapid economic growth and an expanding middle class are reshaping attitudes towards sports. Parents are now encouraging children to balance academics with sports unlike earlier times," the minister pointed out.
"The Government is committed to providing comprehensive support for sports development in India. Initiatives like new training centres and partnerships with international bodies will drive progress."
Chaubey said the AIFF has presented a detailed plan to Mandaviya.
"Given the size and population of a vast country like India, one AIFF-FIFA academy in Odisha is not enough. So, we proposed to have four more regional academies with the same technical supports from FIFA."
"Presently in India, there are 25 fully professional clubs in the ISL and the I-League. In addition to that, there are 80 AIFF-accredited academies, all these teams are having under-13 age group category teams, the details have been presented to the ministry."
FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS) Project Director Ged Roddy, who is currently on a visit to India, was also present at the meeting, along with AIFF Secretary General Anilkumar.
The AIFF-FIFA Academy was launched in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, after a visit of world renowned coach Arsene Wenger, who is the FIFA Chief of Global Football Development.
The academy currently has 32 cadets. Roddy, FIFA TDS project director, is presently on a visit to India to review the project.
