New Delhi: All India Football Federation (AIFF) has come out with an aggressive second strategic plan (2019-2022). The authority aims to achieve overall development of the sport in the country.
As per the strategic plan released on the AIFF website, "there is a huge scope for bidding for mega footballing events like various FIFA age group World cups and AFC competitions."
The AIFF has already submitted a bid to host the U17 Women's World Cup which is going to be held in 2020 and the authority is in the process of preparing another bid for U20 Men's World Cup (2021).
"The apex governing body in the country is also keen to host the AFC U23 Men's Championship (2022), AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022, FIFA Futsal World Cup (2024) and the AFC Men's Asian Cup (2027)," the statement added.
The federation is of the opinion that hosting such mega events help in galvanizing efforts of all stakeholders such as central and state government agencies, corporates, schools and other sports enthusiasts towards ensuring mass development of football in the country.
This would also ensure the continuous usage of stadiums and other footballing facilities that were developed for the FIFA U17 World Cup India in the year 2017.
India was able to better their FIFA ranking from 154 to 97 under the AIFF's first strategic plan.
Now the authority would hope to further improve the state of football in India after rolling out the second strategic plan.
