‘Meeting World Cup goal’

THE president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), Kalyan Chaubey, last Sunday (4) said the AIFF was working on a road map to create a strong national team which could be part of the World Cup.

With FIFA increasing the number of teams from the present 32 to 48 for the 2026 World Cup, India is aiming to have its players at the top level in future editions, Chaubey said.

India’s current FIFA ranking is 106.

Chaubey, a former footballer who represented the country, said in the past, the national team used to feature players from only three or four states.

“There are 26 football associations in the states and union territories across the country, but their collective contributions have not been utilised properly,” the former goalkeeper said.

He asserted that the AIFF would reach out to the state associations and create a football ambience to have a national team capable of fulfilling India’s dream of participating in the World Cup.

Chaubey was speaking during a two-day visit to the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland.

Observing that the state had a lot of potential, he said that as president of AIFF, he would like to see boys and girls of the state play football at the highest level. For that, infrastructure and opportunities had to be created, he said. He urged the Nagaland government to create a scholarship programme so that AIFF could send its best coaches to the state to train at least 16 coaches – one each for every district – and 10 referees.

The coaches would train youngsters to become national-level players from Nagaland, he added.