A centralised training centre for all national football teams is set to become a reality, All India Football Federation (AIFF) general secretary Kushal Das said here on Thursday.
This was one of the many initiatives announced at a press conference to mark a cooperation agreement between the AIFF and Sports Authority of India (SAI).
“We will create a national training centre for all national teams — this includes the junior Indian and women’s teams,” Das said.
He mentioned that the officials are yet to identify a city for this purpose. The centre is expected to be operational in two years, he added.
The Indian teams, on most occasions, train in the city where matches are scheduled to be held, and this has drawn criticism from Indian men’s team coach Stephen Constantine, who recently stated that his squad cannot continue “travelling around the country paying lakhs of rupees for hotels, and moving equipment”.
As part of the AIFF-SAI agreement, Das announced that the AIFF will integrate coaches from SAI with its own training programmes.
The AIFF will also push for international accreditation for these coaches, he said.
Talent scouting programmes will commence at SAI centres around the country, involving Nicolai Adam, the Indian U-17 national team coach.
Young footballers who are identified by these programmes will then be trained at SAI centres.
Union sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal, SAI director general Injeti Srinivas, SAI secretary Hira Ballabh, 2017 under-17 FIFA World Cup tournament director Javier Ceppi, State minister for youth empowerment Abhayachandra Jain, KSFA patron N.A. Haris and KSFA president A.R. Khaleel were some of the dignitaries present on the occasion.
