AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI:  The All India Football Federation’s Technical Committee meeting, chaired by former India captain, Mr. IM Vijayan, was held at the football house, on Friday, February 21, 2025.

The meeting was attended by members of the Technical Committee, which included Mr. Shabbir Ali, Mr. Victor Amalraj, Mr. Harjinder Singh, Mr. Santosh Singh, and Mr. Climax Lawrence. The AIFF Secretary General Mr. Anilkumar and treasurer Mr. Kipa Ajay, along with the AIFF Technical Director of the AIFF, Mr. Syed Sabir Pasha were present in the meeting. 

The Technical Committee confirmed the appointment of former India international Subrata Paul as the Director, National Team. 

The Committee recommended the appointment of Bibiano Fernandes, Head coach of the U20 National Men's team. 

The Technical Committee discussed at length on the importance of football development at the grassroots, and recommended an annual inter-school tournament at the state and the national levels for boys and girls in the age group of 9-10 and 11-12. 

To evaluate the performance of the national team matches in both men and women categories, the technical committee has recommended the constitution of a four-member study group with Sajid Dar, Jeddy Almeida, Shakti Chauhan and Gumpe Rime as the members. 

The AIFF Secretary General, Mr. Anilkumar said, "In the technical committee meeting, we recommended a pathway for the youth development for Indian football for boys and girls. Starting from the age of nine. The committee recommended introducing the inter-school grassroots level competition from the state level at the preliminary stage and the final round at the national level.

"In this competition, the players will be scouted for the under 13 at youth academies which are participating in the national youth league present with the AIFF. Then they will move to the next under 15 and under 17 category. After that, we plan to modify it based on the recommendation of the committee. Next year it will be the 14, 16 and 18 years age group, which will align with the qualifying matches of under 13 in the state level so that the qualified players can participate next year in the under 14 category of the National Youth League. On the other hand,  under 15 players, once they qualify this year, they can continue to play the National League in the under 16 category next year.

"This will help us to scout better players for the national team as well as for the AIFF and FIFA academy projects in various parts. At present we are running one project in Odisha. The second one is about to start in Telangana. Most likely, the other three will be launched within six months of time provided we receive the FIFA approvals in time. These players can join these academies and continue for the next three years so that India can produce better talent within a short span of three years of time so that we can perform better in the under-17 World Cup qualifiers," Mr. Anilkumar said. 

The Technical Committee chairman, I.M Vijayan said, "The modification proposed by members of the committee and also the technical department was very useful for the development of quality football players in the country. At present we have a large number of players playing at the grassroots and youth level. However, our performance with the National Team has not reached the desired level. At present, we need to have a quality players pool. The new development pathway and the modification of the new development programme will definitely produce quality players."