How To Make A Winning Indian Football Team

India U-20 team had just defeated Argentina, country that is home to Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, and India's U-16 team defeated Iraq in the West Asian Football Federation Cup. And now there was a path of optimism and not scepticism for the All India Football Federation. But officials in the AIFF know that these victories are just pit stops and there are big issues to fix to have a bright future for our footballing team. Sunando Dhar, CEO of I-League admits that the country is working on developing team from top to bottom - nationals to leagues - when it should be done in the opposite way. AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das is optimistic about the changes and said that things will soon become better, even though the development activities started 20 years late. The challenge that they face is to develop the sport from the grass root level.

The other key changes coming up are baby leagues such as U13, U15 and U18 leagues. Some associations have already started competition among 6 or 7 year olds and AIFF needs to do it too. The other big change that is coming up would be the player compensation model. This means there would be fee for clubs when their players are signed by other clubs.

As a result of such initiatives, there has been a rise in children taking up sports. Officers have been appointed in the states so as to fulfill their duties and kick off the changes issued by AIFF.

By: Neha Maheshwari

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