AIFF Considers Restructuring Santosh Trophy And State Leagues To Boost Domestic Player Exposure

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its affiliated units on Friday mulled on the possible restructuring of the Santosh Trophy and state leagues in order to give more match time to domestic players. (More Sports News)

Top officials of the AIFF and 32 Member Associations (MAs) from across the country deliberated upon the diverse challenges in each state in a three-day conclave that concluded at the Football House here on Friday. AIFF President𝓀 Kalyan Chaubey chaired the meetings on all three days.

"The me꧒mbers also agreed that more match time is ♈required for Indian domestic players and discussed how the AIFF and the MAs can restructure the Santosh Trophy or the State Leagues to create more match time," the AIFF said.

The AIFF State Gradation and State Specific Strategꦦic Plans meeting saw the principal office bearers of the federation listen to the presidents and ღsecretaries of the MAs, who were offered the floor for 40 minutes each. 

The MAs made detailed presentations of their operations at the state level over the last three years and unfolded their future plans in the next three years while realistically id💮entifying the🌸ir challenges and advantages.

The AIFF officials also deliberate♔d upon the proposals from the member associations꧟ for the development of football in their respective states in alignment with the Vision 2047 plan.

"We must ensure that there are state-wise plans for maximum optimisation of development, which will also help Indian football to move ahead in totality. Our proposals an꧑d discussions for the entire 25 hours inꦦ three days hovered around with this specific thought,” said Chaubey.

"we have provisioned for each MA to submit thei🐈r self-evaluation cards, based on 🉐which we will make proposals on a case-to-case basis.”

The self-evaluation cards are broad-based, having nearly 500 points and cover several key areas like administration,🃏 infrastructure, football ecosystem, sporting achievements, marketing an𒀰d broadcasting, etc.

According to the AIFF, the meeting also discussed the possibilities of gaining Atma Nirbhar Status (financial sustainability) for both the AIFF and its MAs.&nbꦦsp;

"The AIFF, currently, mainly receives grants fro𝔉m three sources – the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, GOI, the FIFA, and the AFC, most of which are subject-sꦆpecific grants.

"AIFF is making 🎉every e🙈ffort to collaborate with various state governments and other organisations for the conduct of national and international tournaments and matches to relieve the budget constraints to an extent. These organisations have largely come forward in extending the infrastructure facilities to the AIFF," it said.

The federation also informed that it currently has 13,1🔜95 licensed coaches, and 3,616 re💫gistered referees for the 2024-25 season. 

"The meeting 🌳felt if the coaches should undergo refresher courses for training at th♓e grassroots level, then the same should be applied to the referees as well. The meeting deliberated upon the improvement of Indian refereeing in general and felt that this is one area that should be looked into specifically," the AIFF said.

It was also noted by the members that nearly Rs 2,200 crore has been approved by several state governments for the renovation of football stadium or infrastructure (like Guwahati Rs 630 crore, Kokrajhar Rs 140 crore, Tawang Rs 224 crore, Nagaland Rs 300 crore, Telangana Rs 27 crore, Uttar Pradesh 800 foot♍ball fields averaging Rs 1 crore each per field and 18 small stadiums averaging 10 crores for each st꧟adium).