By Arka Dyuti Palit
AIFF Media Team
NOIDA: The SAI-AIFF International Coaching Conference saw its opening day today (October 11) at the Amity University Campus in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The collaborative effort between All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Sports Authority of India saw the presence of FIFA Technical Director, Steven Martens alongside several eminent names in football with around 200 coaches from across India in attendance.
The list of attendees included: Oscar Gonzalez Diaz, Coach Education Manager, Football NSW; Karim Bencherifa, Coach Morocco Women’s National Team; Yamaguchi Takafumi, Coach Education Director, Japanese Football Association; Tom Joel, Sports Scientist, Leicester City FC; Richard Hood, Head of Youth Development, AIFF among others.
Steven Martens who spoke on the key components of efficient Player Development with long term strategic planning for all age groups said, ‘long term goals and not short term ones’ should be the focus in football.
Yamaguchi Takafumi broached the topic of Japan’s famed 100 year vision policy which has recently ensured the island nation its 6th FIFA World Cup Qualification as it became the first team to qualify from Asia for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018.
Karim Bencherifa, the man who has several years of coaching experience in India spoke on bridging the gap between Asia and Europe through ‘providing enough competitive games for footballers and promoting talent to play foreign higher level leagues’.
AIFF Technical Director, Savio Madeira described this as ‘a great opportunity to gain knowledge’ for the coaches who came from all across India and he said he was ‘hopeful that the coaches go back imparting the knowledge gained’.
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