Core, as a noun, is defined as the central, innermost or most essential part of anything.

Humankind throughout the ages has a proclivity to rush towards its very nucleus in times of crises and fear.  In physical terms, the city centre or town hall would be the place of congregation as the outer walls were overrun by invaders. In superstitious practices, this would be akin to staying indoors in the safety of our four walls if an eclipse is underway. Finally, in spiritual terms, we go inwards towards the core of our being to centre our focus during times of stress and imbalance. Similarly, the current pandemic is already driving us inwards in multiple arenas.

A pervasive culture of 'each nation for themselves' in on the rise with regions which had no borders for decades, such as the European Union, re-erecting them and nations threatening others for the release of medication and supplies. This is all under the influence of fear - one of the strongest motivators of retreat. In other words, consolidating and reinforcing the core of the nation.

Federations are the Core of Sports

In the sports context, the core is the Federation. The governing bodies that formulate and implement policy towards growth and implementation of all activities in that sport in the country. As ancillary private sporting institutions will fall due to multiple support failures it will be the duty and responsibility of the Federations to bind the State Associations together, to coordinate efforts to continue encasing sporting activities with the safety and precautions that will become a standard feature until widespread vaccination becomes possible. Currently, we do not even have a vaccine and it appears that a wait of between 12 to 18 months is imminent.   

Opportunity to strengthen our nation

In this scenario, augmenting the human capital resources of our nation by aligning with Federations in your areas of interest or expertise will offer you the greatest opportunity of growth while serving your nation. Right from thought leadership to capacity building, the entire spectrum needs attention for migration towards a new era of sports - the sportsafe era. In football, the new breed of super-managers being groomed this year under the tutelage of AIFF Masters will be the first front line warriors armed with the knowledge and expertise to plan, anticipate, prepare and execute contingencies to side-step the hugely damaging ramifications of this virus and similar ones expected in the future.   

Sportsafe Era of Sports

A whole new set of rules, procedures and platforms will need to be formulated and implemented to ensure safety for players, coaches, officials, volunteers and spectators. Covid-19 has stopped the world in such a way that we will need to prepare for future pandemics to ensure a continuity of human economic, leisure and social activities with the least amount of interruption as possible.

Managers from AIFF Masters will be field-ready to formulate strategies and deploy tactics to ensure the continued survival of clubs, academies, leagues and other sports platforms that support thousands of families and households. In the challenging economic conditions that we will find ourselves now, these Managers will be trained to create sustainable novel revenue streams, employ innovative techniques of community and fan engagement and use new tools to gather actionable insights.          

Step up now

The time to step up and join the All India Football Federation in its fight against a debilitating disease such is Covid-19 is now. You can do that in so many ways. Some are as simple as putting up motivational posts for our referees, coaches and young football players who feel the full weight of this lockdown or offering suggestions on how to reintroduce football when social distancing will still need to be maintained.  How you step us is not important, the fact that you did in one way or another is all that will matter. When we emerge from our sanctuaries in May, we should emerge with a clarity of purpose. We should emerge with a fire in our bellies to fight back and reclaim the action of this game from this deadly virulent virus. This is the least we can do for a sport which has given us so much.

For registration, please follow the link: https://zfrmz.com/jScswaqVJ86S18hY2vig