Master plan for football development in India
JOVITO LOPES
Lakshya: One Goal. One Vision,” which was launched in New Delhi is a master plan for the future development of football in India. It is the first version of an attempt to give a common direction to football stakeholders in the country, stated AIFF’s Technical Director, Robert Baan.
The master plan shows a potential road for success for players, coaches, referees, clubs, officials and other stakeholders. It aims to create a common ground whereby all stakeholders of Indian football are able to share a common roadmap to excellence.
“The vision document is not the one-stop solution to all the issues facing Indian football today. There is no doubt there is need to elevate football to global standards. The problems are far too many and deep-rooted. One can begin with the lack of organization, budget, youth development, talent identification, infrastructure, coach education, referee education, technical know-how, efficient club structure, nutrition, fitness, medical support, career support to ex-players and go on and on,” pointed out Baan.
“The list of problems is long and the AIFF is committed to work towards improving the situation in the best possible manner. However, since the problems are many and tricky, it is important that we tackle these in an organized and systematic manner. There needs to be a detailed plan which must be adhered to. All measures and steps need to be united in a common and consistent direction, and all stakeholders need to be aware of the path towards achieving the goal. And hence the master plan for the holistic development of football in India,” remarked Baan.
Baan explained that for India to be able to compete at the international level and be successful in qualifying for AFC or FIFA tournaments with our clubs and National teams, one needs to understand that all have to work in the same direction and with the same philosophy. “Lakshya aims to create that common ground whereby all stakeholders of Indian football are aware of a common roadmap to excellence and thus are able to share it,” said Baan.
The technical chief explained that Lakshya proposes to develop a National Curriculum to help AIFF to define a typical Indian style of play without copying any other country. It also proposes a new National Talent Identification Plan (NTIP) and a National Youth Development Programme (NYDP) which will form the basis of future results.
“Youth development, undoubtedly, is one of the most important cogs in the wheel simply because it is the future of Indian football. Unless our efforts can create an Indian National team of international standards, any achievement will be nothing but superficial. In order to support the youth development initiatives, a strong community of coaches and referees is a necessity. Coaches with the know-how of state-of-the-art coaching methodologies and tactics are an absolute must not just for the professional club teams but also for the grassroots and youth teams so that bright talents are not lost.”
“Laskhya proposes to restructure the existing coach development programme significantly with a stronger and more effective coach education programme based on the latest content and definite targets.”
“Referees, on the other hand, are instrumental in providing a competitive environment to the players, which is an integral part of a player’s development during his/her younger days. Referees are also key to making the game more entertaining at the higher level, thus, drawing in more fans and interest into the game.”
Baan remarked that efforts have been made in the master plan to give a right structure and pathway to develop world-class referees in India.
“The National Club Development Plan is more like a set of guidelines which the clubs in India should follow in order to reach competitive standards along the lines of other successful clubs around the world. All Indian clubs should realize the importance of being self sustainable through a slew of initiatives including but not limited to fan development programmes, maximizing ticket sales, exploring alternate revenue streams from stadium infrastructure, etc.”
The plan also deals with ideas on how the country’s elite competitions, such as the I-League and the Federation Cup can be improved upon to make them more marketable and interesting.
Baan felt that India has a huge opportunity to do well in women’s football at international stage. “Some initiatives to provide the basic infrastructure and technical support to women’s football in India have been discussed, like erecting various support basic infrastructures to provide for our players, clubs and teams to succeed, like a National Football Training and Development Center, stadiums, practice pitches, administrative support, medical support, communications, events.”
The master plan also examines the social spill-overs of football and discusses strategies to seek opportunities for former National team players and former I-League players to secure jobs related to football as part of post-playing career opportunities.
Baan stressed that the document had been prepared to be read by the various clubs and their administrators, players, referees, coaches, other officials, fans and the public in general to understand the AIFF’s vision of working together with everyone involved so that a concerted effort can be made towards uplifting the game in India to global standards.
Improving the quality of players and competitions at all levels, building strong support structures, developing core technical capabilities such as development of high quality coaches, referees, medical support, infrastructure will form the base on which the first strategy will be implemented.
