The Executive Committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) met at the Football House in New Delhi to decide on several issues of the federation, going ahead.
The most important decision of them all was that the men’s senior National Championships was renamed as the FIFA Santosh Trophy, with Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, expected to attend the final.
“I am happy to announce that after having discussions with FIFA, the Santosh Trophy will now be known as the FIFA Santosh Trophy. This entails that a team of FIFA officials will come to have a meeting with Arunachal Pradesh officials on the conduct of the tournament,” Chaubey said.
“We also expect the FIFA President (Mr Gianni Infantino) to be present for the final on March 9 or 10.”
The president added said that he also has a plan to establish a goalkeepers’ academy to produce quality custodians. Himself a former India goalkeeper, Chaubey told the members that he had a meeting with Germany’s legendary former goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who was in India recently on a personal visit.
The Committee also decided to have some of the I-League matches in Jharkhand, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.
FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development and former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is set to visit India later this month, and the AIFF President announced that his visit would open up a new chapter in India’s youth development plans and projects.
“We will hold detailed discussions with Mr. Wenger on plans to establish the proposed FIFA-AIFF academy. Our plan is not to have one, but five academies, one across each zone in India. India being a big country, I personally feel, one academy will not be enough, since it could throw up only 25-30 players in one batch. So, we have taken up this ambitious project of five academies.”
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