Three Metz bound in an AIFF first

Over the past few years, many football academies in India, most of them moonlighting as such, had announced partnerships with European clubs to take youngsters on short training stints abroad. Though such partnerships and talent hunts are trumpeted much, little progress is actually made as these youngsters return to obscurity in India after the end of the course.

On Wednesday, All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced a partnership with French club FC Metz to intern three youngsters from its academy in Goa at the Ligue 2 club for three months. And AIFF president Praful Patel said this time it would be different. “What happened before were partnerships between private academies and clubs. Yes, we do encourage them like we encourage any programme that brings European clubs closer to India. But AIFF was not part of those. This is different. This is the first time the AIFF is involved,” said Patel, during a media interaction at the residence of the France Ambassador to India François Richier.

The three youngsters, Anirudh Thapa, Prosenjit Chakraborty and Jerry Lalrinzuala, had featured in the SAFF Under-19 championship where India lost to Nepal in the final. They have been part of the AIFF’s youth development programme from their under14 days.

“These three youngsters are from our academy in Goa and have been selected by a panel of coaches and technical directors. They will train at FC Metz and the AIFF will be sponsoring and supporting them during their stay there. After three months, there would be a review done by the coaches at Metz, and if they pass, which I am sure they will, they could extend the stay there. The AIFF will continue to support them in such a case,” Patel added.

“The idea is to provide these youngsters with high quality training.”

Patel also said the existing schedule in India, with two leagues in place, the I-League and the ISL, will be sorted out in one year. “We have a roadmap in place. We will announce something in a year,” he said. He, however, did not clarify if the merger of leagues is the idea being discussed.

These three youngsters will train at FC Metz and the AIFF will be sponsoring and supporting them during their stay there. After three months, there would be a review done by the coaches at Metz, and if they pass, they could extend the stay there. The AIFF will continue to support them in such a case PRAFUL PATEL, AIFF president