AIFF’s blueprint: Football 4 school integration set to transform youth talent development

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is set to embark on a groundbreaking journey to establish a robust three-stage pan-India structure for talent scouting and recruitment, focusing on its ambitious FIFA-AIFF Talent Academy. Collaborating with the Indian Ministry of Education and FIFA, the federation aims to incorporate the innovative ‘Football 4 School’ program as a crucial pathway for identifying, scouting, and recruiting talent for the esteemed academy.

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, FIFA High-Performance Expert Ged Roddy, and Philippe Senderos recently met with Dharmendra Pradhan, the Minister for Education & Skill Development in Delhi, to present the blueprint and garner Ministry support in extending the reach to the remotest schools in rural India.

In its pursuit to prepare India’s future FIFA U17 World Cup squad, AIFF’s blueprint outlines a comprehensive plan to create a talent funnel for the FIFA-AIFF Talent Academy on a year-by-year basis.

To cover the vast geographical expanse of India, the national federation proposes the integration of the Football 4 School initiative into its Talent Development Scheme, ensuring outreach to every school through the nodal agency Navodayalya.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan expressed enthusiasm, stating, “The FIFA-AIFF plan is exciting and something never attempted before at this scale. The Football 4 School program has already made strides in five states, and we aim to expand it to every school, student, and PE teacher. I am confident that the integration of Football 4 School as a talent scouting platform for the Academy will be successful with the commitment of FIFA, AIFF, and the Ministry of Education.”

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey expressed gratitude for the support, emphasizing the importance of a pan-India scouting program. He stated, “We want to reach every 12-13 year talent in our quest to find and hone the skills of home-grown talent.”

The ongoing Football 4 School program has been introduced in four states and one union territory, covering 8,985 schools out of the targeted 155,192 schools identified by the Ministry of Education. The State U13 tournaments and AIFF U13 National Championships will play a pivotal role in setting a benchmark for talent identification.

The first FIFA-AIFF Talent Academy, based in Bhubaneshwar, plans to intake 40-50 of the best-scouted talents each year for the next three years, ensuring a continuous influx of talent in the U13, U14, and U15 age categories. AIFF is also actively exploring the establishment of five additional Talent Academies in India, with a combined FIFA-AIFF delegation scheduled to visit existing academies by mid-March.

-IANS