AIFF holds Technical Committee meeting

Meeting chaired by IM Vijayan

The All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) Technical Committee meeting was held in Navi Mumbai on October 30, 2022 ahead of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup final, which will also be held in the city.

The meeting was chaired by former Indian striker IM Vijayan, and AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran, and Deputy Secretary General Sunando Dhar were present at the meeting. Deputy Chairman Manoranjan Bhattacharya, along with Climax Lawrence, Arun Malhotra, Harjinder Singh, and Pinki Bompal Magar served as the committee members for the meeting while Lalnghinglova Hmar, the League Committee Chairman was present as a special invitee. 

Former Indian skippers Harjinder Singh and Oinam Bembem Devi were appointed as Chief of Scouts for men’s and women’s football while former India international Mahesh Gawali was announced as the Head Coach of the U20 Men’s National team. Gawali also serves as the Assistant Coach of the senior men’s National team and will continue on with that role as well. Vivek Nagul, Santosh Kashyap and Hilal Rasool have been shortlisted for the Technical Director role and the Committee will interview all three candidates and submit their recommendation to an Executive Committee by November 15, 2022. 

The Committee also spoke about the Elite Youth League and it was decided that the league will take place in December. All the States who have completed their youth leagues are allowed to nominate two teams while others can nominate teams from the Hero Indian Super League, Hero I-League and other academies as well. The League’s eligibility for players are those born between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2008. 

The Committee also stated that the Men’s U17 team, who will be taking part in the AFC U17 Asian Cup in 2023. will get more match exposure as they prepare for the tournament. The team will be sent to countries such as Belgium. Saudi Arabia and Qatar for exposure matches.