“Motive was to encourage girls to come out and play,” Henry Menezes

by Siddharth Yadav July 7, 2017

The last couple of years has been quite encouraging for Women’s Football in Maharashtra. With the immense backing from WIFA (Western India Football Association), FIFA and AIFF, numerous states tournament has been held recently.

The recently concluded WIFA Women’s Championship saw teams participating from eight districts which involved some of the best possible Women’s teams, a simple reason why the Tournament gained huge success.

Post the final match between FC Pune City and United Poona SA, WIFA’s CEO Henry Menezes and WIFA’s Technical Officer Mangesh Desai shared their thoughts regarding Women’s Football.

“We brought up Women’s Championship to give more enthusiasm to girls and more importantly, to promote equality among everyone,” Henry Menezes said.

When asked to respond to Women’s Championship success, Henry Menezes responded: “This WIFA initiative which was backed by FIFA and AIFF has been executed successfully.”

“Our main motive was to encourage girls to come out and play. There were upsets and healthy competition in the Championship which made it successful,” he added.

Technical Officer Mangesh Desai: ” Women’s Championship was a part of FIFA -AIFF State tournament. It gave a massive opportunity to girls to come out and play.”

The Technical Officer feels more clubs now would be interested after witness Women’s Championship.

“More clubs now would be encouraged and interested to play in the next edition. This Championship has surely opened the doors for Women’s Football in Maharashtra,” Mangesh added.

When asked how people can choose football as a profession or a career in India, Mangesh said: “This has been the major issue in India, but things are changing now. So many leagues have been organised and played in the recent years. We can also see students doing Sports Management which is a positive sign.”

“Opportunities are coming up now. Mindset must change to see the growth of Indian Football,” Mangesh concluded.