PANJIM: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) Women’s Football Committee headed by Valanka Alemao on Saturday took some momentous decisions for the betterment of women’s football in the country, deciding to conduct the second Indian Women’s League (IWL) on a home-and-away basis with each team in the IWL getting a subsidy of Rs 25 lakh each, in New Delhi.
In another important decision, Valanka disclosed that the clubs can now pay the players as per their budgets with the salary cap of Rs 3.5 lakh for 10 players as proposed last time having been removed as several clubs had raised serious concerns.
“It was also decided to organise the Khelo India U-13, U-15 and U-17 girls football leagues for the first time. This will help nurture and unearth talent at the grassroots levels, which is essential for the future of Indian women’s football,” stated Valanka, Goa’s lone representative in AIFF and the lone woman in the committee.
Elaborating, Valanka disclosed that the leagues and the second IWL will be played over a longer duration to give players sufficient time for rest as well as recovery. The committee also proposed to appoint a sports psychologist for the mental well-being of the players of the senior national team as well as the national age-group teams for women’s football.
“All the members agreed to implement various decisions so as to take women’s football in India to higher levels as it is the national women’s team which has brighter chances to qualify for the World Cup,” remarked Valanka in a press release.
The meeting was attended by AIFF General Secretary Shaji Prabhakaran and other members of the women’s committee.
